Sunlight: Broken Memories
by megan.daisy.9
Summary: 16 year old Megan Ellis returns home from school, only to discover that her mother has mysteriously gone missing. And to make things worse, a hole appears in her room, beckoning her inside. Joined by a group of new friends including a blue hedgehog, Megan sets out to save her mother from a terrible fate. Rated T/M. Feel free to R&R!
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

**Chapter 1: Prologue**

_"And now, the news. Yesterday in Ashfield and the woods near Silent Hill, the bodies of five murder victims and a sixth severely wounded female were discovered. The woman was immediately rushed to St. Jerome's Hospital, but died a short time later of her injuries. She had been identified as a Miss Eileen Galvin of Ashfield."_

_"The last body discovered was found in Room 302 of the South Ashfield Heights apartments. It is believed to be that of its' occupant, Henry Townshend. The body was reportedly disfigured beyond recognition, making identification impossible."_

_"Once again, we've got late-breaking news... Five unnamed police officers have been found dead, for reasons unknown, in the South Ashfield Heights apartments, along with its superintendent, Mr. Frank Sunderland."_

_"All other residents of South Ashfield Heights have been rushed to St. Jerome's Hospital, many complaining of severe chest pain. These strange incidents are similar to the ones which occurred in Silent Hill some years ago."_

_"More news to follow."_

**...**

It was shocking, hearing the news that Eileen was one of the unfortunate people that died. I remember I sometimes saw her in the streets, coming back from a weekly shopping trip and we would have a pleasant chat. The last time I saw her, she was smiling and had a light blush atoned on her cheeks. Apparently she had a slight crush on this dude...Henry Townshend, I think it was. We both didn't know much about him, but I playfully teased her and told Eileen to "go get him!".

But now they're both gone.

And like they always say, the past is the past and we have to move on.

I should probably tell you a little about myself whilst we're still here; my name is Megan Ellis, I'm sixteen years old and to other people, I'm just a normal teenager. But actually I'm not, due to the fact that I have autism. This affects how I do things; such as communicating and trying to develop a bond with kids my age. Because of that, I spend most of my time alone and isolated. Sure, some of them gave me a chance and I gladly took every one, but it wasn't the same.

At least I had my parents and family by my side to get through it.

On a different and brighter note, every teenager has her interests; favourite movie, game, singer or band. My interests were a little different, but the same too. Ever since the age of five, I've been a fan of the Ice Age movie franchise. I've watched them all and bought some of the merchandise and posters, literally covering my entire bedroom with them. Well, I managed to save a large amount of space for a certain video game franchise I like too. Here's a little hint; the main protagonist is a speedy blue hedgehog going by the name of Sonic. He's pretty damn cool.

What I'm about to tell you now, is a story of what I've been though a couple of months back. Memories that are breaking as I remember them; some I keep close to my heart and others I desire to forget.

It all started three weeks after hearing of Eileen's death. I was just at school, going through life as normal.

After a series of events, that was when my life changed forever.

* * *

><p>I groggily opened my eyes and let out a tired yawn, sitting up in my Ice Age and Sonic covered bed as I did so. A soft and warm light shone through my window, somehow making the entire room appear as an inviting and comfortable location.<p>

As I climbed out of my bed, the first thing I did was grab my hairbrush and run it through my light brown hair, taking out the knots. Next, I quickly stripped out my pyjamas into my favourite outfit; a long sleeved white shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans. To add the final touch, I slipped on my white socks and trainers.

I quickly went into the bathroom to sort myself out and take a look at myself before going into the living room. To be honest, I was feeling a little nervous today. We would still be preparing for our final exams and this was my last chance to get everything on track. I rested my hands on the porcelain sink, trying to calm my breathing.

"It's okay kiddo..." I whispered to myself, reassuringly. "You can do this..."

Due to my autism, people would often think of me as anti-social. But the truth was that I was shy. Painfully shy. I sometimes told myself to be more outgoing and I would try my best, but it wouldn't work.

_One day, it will. Just you wait, fellas._

After a minute or two, I released my hands and quickly grabbed a nearby hairband from the cupboard underneath, trying my hair up into a ponytail. Exiting the bathroom, I grabbed my Ice Age school backpack, slipped my arms through the straps and went into the living room to greet my mother. "Mornin' mum!"

"Oh, morning Megan!" She replied cheerfully, coming out of the kitchen. She was a lovely lady in her mid thirties, looking pleasant in her work outfit; blue long sleeved shirt with darker jeans and a pair of black boots. Her hair was just like mine, but only darker and not tied up. Just like me, Mum was quite shy but not as much as I was. Like I said before, I was lucky to have her in my life. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm alright." I replied, putting on a brave face. "I take it Dad's at work already..."

"That is true. He's only going to be there for a couple of weeks, and once he's back, we can have some family time!" My mother exclaimed, letting her eyes brighten.

_Looks like something exciting must be happening..._

I smiled and placed my backpack on the floor nearest to the door, heading into the kitchen to get my lunch ready. Mum watched me with a thoughtful expression, almost like...she was remembering a pleasant memory. But then, a realisation hit her. "Oh, your dad said that he's gonna ring you at break, seeing how you're doing..."

"Sounds cool to me!" I chirped. After I finished making my lunch, I placed it next to my backpack and went to sit down on my chair in the next room. Suddenly, as almost if it were a flashback, I was struck by a series of visions. I saw a man with long dirty-blonde hair, piercing green eyes and a menacing but calm expression written on his cleanly-shaven face. Dried blood caked his hair, face and coat, clearly making him look like a threat. I couldn't hear what he was saying but thanks to my skill in lip-reading, I knew what words he spoke.

_"You're it. The last of the 21 Sacraments. The 'Final Sign'. The Receiver of Wisdom."_

The image then suddenly morphed into something more terrifying and concerning. I saw a woman (or ghost I should say) dressed in a dark red outfit; a short-sleeved top and skirt with high heels. Her face was covered by thick black hair, falling down her back and strewn across the subway platform. The expression on her face was one of pure anger as she floated towards me, intent on doing something terrifying.

Just in seconds, she was so close to me, forcing me to stare at her. Intense pain began to build up in my head, so powerful. I squeezed my eyes shut and gritted my teeth in order to prevent myself from letting out a blood-curling scream.

"Megan? Megan? MEGAN!"

I opened my eyes and found myself staring not at the ghost. In her place was my concerned mother. She had both her hands gripping my shoulders tightly and looked very worried. And I mean very. "Are you alright? What happened?"

Rubbing my head, I blinked a couple of times before answering. "Yeah... I'm fine... I..." I paused in an effort to catch my breath. I never saw anything like those visions before. Truth be told, I didn't want to see them again. Plus my mother would freak out if I told her what the visions were, so I kept them secret. "I can't remember...I got a vision but...I can't remember what I saw..."

After those words left my mouth, we were left in a moment of silence, thinking the whole thing over. I was shaken. I never really believed in ghosts but...maybe my vision was telling me that they actually did exist.

_Something strange is going on, I can tell..._

Just then, Mum released her hands and got up, gesturing for me to follow her. "We should probably get you to school now. If at any point during the day you remember anything, let me know. 'Kay?"

I nodded. "Sure..."

We both then went to grab my things, I placed my lunch inside my backpack and zipped it tightly close. I once again slipped my arms through the blue straps and we both exited our flat located on the top floor. There were only three flights of staircases to descend, which was a little tough. But as soon as we got out into the pleasant and nice warmth of the sun, I prepared myself for the events that were about to occur.

_Okay, first the Subway Station, then King Street Line and bam! North Ashfield High. Let's get today over and done with..._

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic, Ice Age or Silent Hill. I only own this fanfic and my OC.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2: Life at School

**Chapter 2: Life at School**

"Bye sweetheart! Love you!"

"Love you too Mum!"

I waved at my mother as she disappeared from view; on her way back to the Subway entrance we came from a few hours ago. The journey was just like any other, but this time it was a little different. I was still shaken by the horrifying visions I received of the creepy man in the blue coat and the female ghost with the long thick hair, so I remained silent for pretty much the whole way. Mum tried to make conversation by talking about all of the exciting plans she had for the weekend, I responded positively but like I stated before, I was quiet for a long time.

_Alright, let's do this..._

Shaking the thoughts away, I walked up to the front entrance and pressed the button which made the large glass doors open. Just as most secondary schools are, North Ashfield High was massive. Wide open spaces such as the canteen, library and outside, along small and medium sized spaces which happen to be all the classrooms and science labs in one huge building with five floors. As I walked into the main reception area and did my weekly job of delivering the register box to and fro my classroom, I noticed that I somehow arrived very early as I was the only one who was around.

_But what if I get caught up in a nightmare from those visions..._

"Hm, the others will arrive shortly, stop being so paranoid." I told myself as I turned to make my way to my classroom.

Suddenly, my fears became a reality.

Instead of the glass doors that stood in front of me, they were now rusted shut and covered in a mixture of dried and fresh blood, as were the walls and furniture all around me. "No..."

A cold and menacing laugh made me jump and turn round. The man in the blue coat was standing a few metres away, with a smirk that was enough to increase the creepiness scale. Seeing him there, reminded me of something on my local radio I heard a few weeks back. It was about... Round 2 or 3 with a murder case involving a dude named Walter Sullivan who killed himself in jail, a few years ago.

_It can't be him... He's dead..._

"Who the hell are you?" I asked, backing away as he slowly advanced towards me in a threatening manner. I didn't get an answer, as his smirk only just got more menacing.

_Oh no, no, no! F*ck no!_

I pulled my fists up in front of me, in an effort to defend myself. My breathing was becoming more heavy and quick as I realised that I was now pressed against the massive doors, just as he was about to close in on me. That was when my surroundings suddenly changed again. Everything was back to normal, the doors were no longer rusted and the walls weren't covered in blood anymore. Just then, something pretty bad happened. The doors opened as I took a step back, making me lose my balance and fall to the ground, letting a frightened yelp escape from my mouth.

_At least I didn't hit my head too hard..._

I groaned in pain, struggling to get back on my feet and gingerly rubbing my head afterwards. To my great relief, some boys and girls had started appearing, making their way towards their classrooms. "Phew..."

Soon after gathering my things together and picking up the box again, I began the trek to my classroom. It was a bit of a long way there, which always seemed to get on my nerves but like they always say, sometimes it's nice to explore our surroundings and take them in. The sun's rays reflected the summery flowers and trees with it's warmth, brightening everyone's mood. One of the thoughts on my mind was how Dad was at work; I hoped that he was doing okay, since his job seemed pretty tough.

Another one was what it would be like to meet Sonic and the Herd. I mean, a set of characters from a video game franchise and a movie franchise together in the same room. How cool would that be?!

I smiled as I imagined myself actually communicating with them; they would understand my condition like my parents did, and we would all just hang out and have a really great time. But unfortunately, that would never happen.

_Well hey, we can always dream right?_

After entering the school again from a different entrance, I stopped at the long staircase that stood a few metres away. My classroom was all the way up on the fifth floor, meaning that I had to do a long, long, long trek in order to get there.

"Ugh, here we go..." I sighed heavily, as I began to make my way up.

There was a peaceful silence and the only things I could hear were my footsteps and my quiet breathing. Normally, I would consider this alright but this time, I felt cautious. I didn't want the creepy man to show up again; nor I wanted to see any other supernatural activity.

I heard rumours that it came from Silent Hill, but I refused to believe it as I always thought it was a nice and quiet town. I never actually went there but I liked the photos of the mountains at sunset, rays reflecting on the silvery-blue Toluca Lake, the buildings and major attractions.

_Maybe someday, I can go myself and take some pictures to add to my photography book.._

I eventually reached the fifth floor and soon, I was joined by a large of group of students from my class. They seemed to be absorbed in their conversation to notice that a teenager with autism was in their presence. One who thought of to be nice and kind, just a little anti-social.

I waited a little while for them to acknowledge my presence, but they never did.

Shrugging, I opened the door and stepped into the corridor which lead to my destination.

_Hopefully today's going to go well..._


	3. Chapter 3: Teenage Confrontation

**Chapter 3: Teenage Confrontation**

At long last, it was break time. I stood in the canteen, dialling my father's number and lifting my mobile phone gingerly up to my ear. I waited patiently, thinking about what I had to say. "Alright..."

After a while, he answered with a _"Hello?" _and I giggled. "Hey Dad, it's me."

_"How's it going kiddo?"_

I grinned. Judging by his tone, Dad seemed pretty happy that I was on the other end. "I'm doing well thanks. Just checking up in you, that is all..."

_"So your mum told you this morning, I see. At least you didn't forget."_

I laughed. "Yeah, I am pretty forgetful. Sometimes."

Hearing this, Dad chuckled and somehow decided to change the subject. _"__I take it you're still thinking about that hedgehog, right?"_

Quickly shutting my eyes and opening them again, I realised that I had to accept the fact that my cheeks had turned to a really bright red. Really bright. "Damn it man! I'm blushing now!"

_"That was what I was aiming for Megan!" _

I have to admit, deep down, I was smiling at the idea. But Sonic had Amy with him so regardless, nothing was going to happen because they weren't real. Like I said before, I would imagine and dream about meeting Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles and the others.

I knew it was impossible, but... if they were out there, living in the real world and walking among us humans, it would be like...mine and the other fans' dreams were becoming a reality. I didn't realise that I had remained quiet for a couple of minutes until Dad spoke up.

_"Hey, are you okay?"_

I shook my head quickly and pulled myself together. "Yeah, I'm fine... Just got lost in my own world, I guess..."

_"Oh right. I got a little worried there..."_

"You don't need to worry about me." I said. "I'm a tough cookie!"

Dad let out an amused chuckle, after those words left my mouth. _"Unfortunately I have to go now, as work is harassing me again. Give your mum a big hug and kiss from me, when you see her. Love you kiddo."_

"Okay I will, I love you too Dad."

As soon as the phone call ended, I instantly put my phone back in my jean pocket and headed straight outside to enjoy the fresh air, going through a different entrance into the main building. My destination was the library which happened to be close to the staircase I went up a few hours earlier. As I weaved my way through the crowds of teenagers; my eyes darted all around the long corridor as I took in my surroundings. Girls and boys were in their separate friendship groups, chatting about their daily lives. Meanwhile, others were making their ways to their destinations and looking at their diaries.

I went through the large double-door which waited for me at the end, and caught sight of a notice board showing an image of a latin teenage girl who looked about 13 or 14 years old. Her hair was a dark brown and was swept up in a bun, revealing her golden-brown skin and bright revealing outfit. A caption was put underneath her picture, written in a bold-black font:

_**In Memory of:**_

_** Cynthia Velasquez**_

_**1985 - 2015**_

_**R.I.P**_

I couldn't help but stare at it for a while. I suddenly got a flashback of the female ghost with the long black hair from South Ashfield Station, and a disturbing thought hit me.

_What if...that was her?_

"It's them!"

"Let's get out of their way!"

"Who are they gonna go for, this time?"

Knowing very well who was coming, I quickly dashed into the library, making absolute sure that they didn't see me. No one wanted to be their target and some of my classmates happened to be a group of their victims. I threw my backpack onto the floor next to the nearest seat I could find, and hid behind the nearest tall shelf of books. Suddenly, the door opened and a familiar voice rang out.

"Where is she?!"

Peeking a little out, I saw who the voice belonged to. A group of older girls (known as the Princesses of North Ashfield High) sauntered in, being lead by a seventeen year old girl referred to as the 'Queen'. They usually bully weaker students and are mostly well known for that. Whenever she was around boys, the leader was a little too seductive for their liking, making them fall under her temporary spell.

"Where is that weird kid?!"

Once that sentence came out, that was when I realised...

I was next on their list...

_No, I'm not going to let them get me..._

Racking my brains, I had to think of an escape plan and a plan B. Maybe I could distract them long enough for me to grab my backpack and make a run of it. Sounds good enough, I guess...

"Okay..." I whispered to myself.

I prepared myself to run, but as I began my move, the leader noticed me. "There you are!"

I just continued on running until I was suddenly jumped on and pinned to the ground. I was then violently turned round, so that I was forced to stare at the leader. "Let me go!"

"Where do you think you're going, weird kid?" She sneered, tightening her grip.

I grunted, struggled and squirmed in an effort to escape, but the attempt was a failure. "God, what do you want from me?!"

The answer was enough to send me into hysterics. "We all want you to leave and never come back."

_Really? That's what everyone wants me to do? _

I stood my ground, refusing to give up. "I'm not weird. What I have is just a life condition which is really tough! Other than that, I'm perfectly normal! Honest!"

The leader leaned a little closer towards me and with a glare full of hatred, said another hurtful sentence. "You're wrong. Leave now!"

With a scream, I squirmed even harder and she began wrestling with me, intent on keeping me down. The other girls watched and cheered their leader as she bullied me. I felt so bad for all of their victims and for their possibly planned next target. The fight went on for a while, I attempted to push her off but she started delivering brutal blows to my face and stomach, forcing a series of pained screams to come out. I was even more frantic as I struggled to free myself but she ended it by punching me in the nose, so hard that I felt a painful throb and heard a loud crack. She then got up and turned to face her mates, saying the next sentence which hit me.

"Let's get outta here. I'm done with this weird, dumb kid."

And with that, they exited the library, leaving me curled in a fetal position on the floor. I had a quick look at my hands and already, they were covered in blood from my now broken nose. Unfortunately, my white top was also now stained with a tiny portion dripping from the place where it hurt. I groaned in pain and annoyance as I struggled to get up on my feet, blinking back the tears that threatened to fall.

_Sonic... If only you, your friends and the Herd were real..._


	4. Chapter 4: Disappearance

**Chapter 4: Disappearance**

Well, after that scuffle with the 'Queen' of North Ashfield High, I was in pretty bad shape. Luckily one of the teachers, (a nice and friendly male) found me and took me up to First Aid to get me cleaned up. He wanted to know what happened so I told him, carefully choosing my words as I did so. Usually some of the leader's female victims would have broken down emotionally after their assault, but me, that wasn't going to happen.

Like I said to Dad, I'm a tough cookie.

It was now the end of the school day, and I had just come out of the building, feeling relieved that I was able to head home. To the far right was a large group of kids waiting for their local bus to come and get them. I could hear murmurs coming from the left and without guessing, I realised that group just happened to be gossiping about my brutal assault.

_Not cool, guys. Not cool._

"Hey, did you hear about the Queen's recent attack?"

"Oh my god, yes! It was on that weird kid with the so-called 'autism'."

"Guys, I was there when she came out of the library with that teacher. She had a broken nose and red pouring out of it!"

The rest of the group gasped and snickered, wearing massive grins. Meanwhile, I honestly couldn't believe what I was hearing. Clearly these guys didn't know what autism actually was, and I wasn't going to walk over to them and show how hurt my feelings were.

So I decided to give myself a goal to achieve.

_Alright, when the time comes, I'm gonna get the confidence to gather everyone together and tell them about my condition. Hopefully that make them understand..._

It sounded perfect. I just needed to wait for the right time. I quickly crossed the road onto the pavement and began making my way to the subway station, trying my best to ignore the constant chats about what happened to me earlier.

"Was there a lot of it?"

"Yup, there was. You should have seen her!"

Calming my breathing, I just continued on. The journey on the pavement went on for a little while longer until the staircase leading down into the subway, revealed itself. I took a couple of steps down, looking back at my school which had almost disappeared from my view. After a while, I turned round and descended the staircase.

_I so can't wait to get back..._

As soon as I reached the bottom, I took in my surroundings. The walls were a dull grey, making their bright notice boards stand out and make themselves known. Already there were thousands of people weaving their way through the massive crowd that had formed just a few hours ago. It was like a normal, regular subway station.

I began making my way towards my destination; a platform which would send me the train I needed to get back to the King Street Line in South Ashfield. It was simple, just go through the turnstile at the end, head down a staircase and I'm there.

Soon, I reached the turnstiles in a different area which seemed to be surrounded by silence. There were small groups of people here and there, some of them my age. I knew that I wouldn't get anywhere if I struck up a friendly conversation with them, so I tipped my three coins into the machine, and went through. I descended a shorter staircase and eventually, the platform came into view.

"Bingo." I said as I got off.

I could see some students from my school waiting for their train on the far left; some of them looking at me with cold glares and spitting insults at me.

_Just ignore them, kiddo..._

Waiting patiently for my train to come, I began thinking about what I could do later once I got home. Mum would be pleased to see me as always, and I would be pleased to see her. Maybe if I get time, I could fire up my PS3 and play a little bit of Sonic. Just to keep my mind of everything that had occurred at school.

It was only a little while longer, before the kids at the end really started to spit their insults at me, this time much louder. But luckily, my train was arriving so I just kept myself together and turned my back to them.

"Hey kid, go to hell!"

"Don't ever come back to North Ashfield High!"

"You don't deserve anything cool!"

_Why...? Just why?_

The train then eventually stopped and the doors opened. I stepped onto it and searched for a place to sit; nearly all of the seats were taken but there was one left which happened to be close to the door which lead to the exits. I sat down, setting my backpack onto my lap and took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. Suddenly, I started when a loud noise indicated that the train was now moving and finally, it set off.

"Phew..." I breathed, letting out a sigh of relief.

I watched as the platforms faded into rapid colours going at a high speed. The other passengers just chatted about their daily lives whilst I remained in my usual state of silence. Life was pretty damn tough with my condition, every day I would be known as the 'weird kid with autism' and I would try so hard to make everyone understand. But every attempt became a failure.

_There has to be more options... There has to be..._

It was still a long way to go before the train stopped, so I decided to quickly grab my IPod, jam in my headphones and listen to some favourite songs of mine. I scrolled through my playlist which seemed to be endless and eventually found one. Closing my eyes, I let a small smile appear as I heard a voice singing.

_Just breathe, kiddo... Just breathe..._

The others were still chatting in their groups, whilst taking in their surroundings. We all didn't know it, but the train seemed to go more faster. Eventually, it stopped at the King Street Line platform with a screech, making me open my eyes and take out my headphones in temporary shock. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

A second noise then erupted, indicating that the doors had opened and already, the others were walking out. I placed my IPod back in my backpack, slipped my arms through it's straps and began making my way out of the train.

_Now all that's left is to get up that escalator... _

Once I got it, I took one step and remained still as the escalator took me and several other people up to the exit. It was a long way up and all I could do was look around. "Almost there..."

I thought about how Sonic might be doing; maybe he was probably in Soleanna or Empire City, kicking Eggman's butt in an epic never-ending battle. Just like my idol, I wasn't a particularly huge fan of the villain. Ever since I heard the nickname 'Baldy McNose Hair', I've been addressing him as that non stop. Literally every time he came on screen.

_Such a cool nickname..._

Eventually, I got off and came face to face with the final staircase that would take me up to the streets. I made my way up and immediately set my sights on my flat which was a few metres away. As I entered the double doors, I began sprinting up the staircases as fast as my legs could carry me. Soon enough, the front door of my apartment came into view. Getting out my butterfly keys, I placed one into the lock and turned it, opening the door.

"Hey Mum, I'm home!" I said, cheerfully as I closed the door behind me.

No answer. I expected my mother to come out smiling and say "Hello Megan!". But I got nothing. Just silence. "Mum?" I asked with concern lacing my tone.

I began searching in all of the areas; living room, bathroom, bedrooms and storeroom. But she wasn't there. I then discovered a note waiting on a small cupboard with writing from someone who I swore sounded familiar:

_**If you want to see your mother again...**_

_**Then you'll have to go to hell.**_

_**Walter**_

"No..." I whispered, slowly becoming more and more panicked. "No, no, no!"

Breathing heavily, I paced around the room, trying to calm myself down during the attack I was having. Why? Why did Mum have to go missing? Why?!

Unable to control myself any longer, I let out a loud blood-curling scream. My day was so bad. I got a broken nose and beaten up by the Queen, only to come home to discover that my kind and sweet mother had mysteriously been taken away.

Just then, I heard a noise coming from outside my front door. I instantly ran and looked into the peephole, just to see what was going on

Someone draped in blue was bending down, apparently picking something up that he dropped. As he got up, I realised who he was and my eyes widened.

_What the?!_

The person outside my door was not a person, but an animal. It was a hedgehog who looked about twenty-four years old. A calm and mature adult instead of the hyperactive and cheerful teenager he once was. I could tell that there was still a hint of the teenager in him somewhere. Instead of being a regular brown colour most hedgehogs are, he was draped in a bright blue. His emerald green eyes matched mine perfectly and I could definitely see that whenever he smiled, it would reveal a mixture of kindness and care.

_Sonic... He's real..._

"Oh man," The adult hedgehog groaned in frustration. "I hope my luck changes before Tails and I have to go to that party."

He looked at my front door for a little while longer. It was almost like...he was making eye contact with me. Like he was actually looking at me with a soft, gentle look. But then, Sonic walked away. Maybe to get going to a restaurant or head out to face Eggman once again. I turned from my door, closing my eyes and letting out an inaudible squeal of happiness. But I was still thinking about my mother.

Suddenly, a loud crash came from my bedroom, making me open my eyes again and jump slightly in shock. "What was that...?"

I made my way over, threw open the door and discovered a huge gaping hole punctured into the wall next to my cupboard and mirror; accompanied by the voices of children and the sobbing of a woman. "Holy Sh*t..."

On the floor in front of it, was a loaded pistol and a set of ten bullets. I bent down and gingerly picked them up, placing them in my backpack along with my IPod and headphones. After I got back up, I continued staring at the hole, filled with confusion and thoughts. "I wonder if Mum was dragged through here...?"

There was only one way to find out.

With my weapon of choice safely with me, I lifted myself up and crawled through the hole.

_Don't worry Mum... I'm coming..._


	5. Chapter 5: Princess Elise the Third

**Chapter 5: Princess Elise the Third**

I opened my eyes to discover that I was lying face down on some green grass. I pulled myself up to my feet and took in my surroundings; I was in a large forest filled with nature and life. A large castle stood a few miles away in the distance, giving me an impression of familiarity.

_I swear I've seen this place before..._

Gazing at everything in interest, I eventually set my eyes on a massive number of blossom trees crowding around a silvery-blue lake. I got out my pistol and clutched it tightly, just in case if anything threatening decided to jump and attack me. I walked cautiously, taking in every detail of the place I was in.

As I got closer, I noticed that I wasn't alone. A twenty-six year old woman stood at the very end, presumably filled with as much interest as I was. She had long red hair flowing down, just stopping at her neck and wore a knee-length white dress with matching gloves. On her feet were a pair of two bright orange high heels, somehow making her look a little taller. To add the final touch, she had a white feathery crown stored in her hair. I recognised her immediately.

_Oh, it's her..._

She then turned round, apparently heard my footsteps and her pale blue eyes widened in fright. I quickly placed my pistol on the ground and lifted my hands up, to show that I didn't mean harm. After a while, she eventually relaxed and addressed me with a smile. "Well, hello there. I haven't seen you around here before. What's your name?"

Like when I always meet new people, I became shy. I wrapped my arms around my small frame and stepped forward. "Megan... And you?"

The woman saw that I was nervous and gave me a look of sympathy and kindness. "You don't need to worry, I won't hurt you..."

_That's a relief..._

"My name is Elise." She said, finally.

I nodded in acknowledgement, still keeping my distance. "So..., what are you doing out here?"

Elise's smile widened slightly. "Oh, I'm just taking an afternoon stroll. Enjoying the fresh air. Today seems quite lovely, doesn't it?"

"Um, yeah... I guess..." I replied, shyly.

My new friend then got an idea and she gestured for me to follow her. "If you'd like, I can take you on a tour around my kingdom? Maybe show you what we do here?"

_I'm in Soleanna, great._

"S-Sure..." I said after a small moment of thought. I then picked my pistol and placed it inside my jean pocket for now. After that, I began to follow Elise (who was only a few metres away), unwrapping my arms as I did so. To be honest, it felt kinda weird to talking to a Sonic franchise character. The blue blur himself was the first one I've seen and Elise was the first one who I've interacted with. My opinion of her was positive, but she had some moments which made me think: _"I'm not sure if I can understand this..."_

My only problem with her though, was that she was unable to defend herself. I understood why, because she had royal duties, but if she found herself in a threatening situation and no one was there to help, how would she get out of it?

I certainly wasn't a fan of escort missions and if our tour came to that, I decided that I was going to teach Elise how to defend herself. I guessed that she probably tried to help Sonic in his fights against Eggman, but still...

"So, um..., What is it that you do here?" I asked, curiously.

"Well..., when it comes to special occasions, we hold the Festival of the Sun. Lots of visitors from all across the globe come here to celebrate with our citizens. There's fireworks full of radiant colours, dancing, singing and a glorious parade in the water." Elise explained. She seemed to be very happy and cheerful as she walked with me.

Despite knowing this already (since I played the game), I found myself slowly growing interested. "Go on..."

"We worship our sun god, Solaris. He protects us from harm and watches over us, making sure that we are doing well." My new friend continued. "But then, a series of events occurred and he turned against us. Luckily, someone referred to as the 'Blue Wind' saved us from harm. He was really lovely to me..."

_How do you still remember all that when you blew out the flame...?!_

I frowned slightly, but then decided to change the subject. "You mentioned someone named the Blue Wind?"

"Yes." Elise brightened at the mention of my idol. "I believe his actual name was..."

"Sonic..." I finished for her.

Hearing this, she looked at me in surprise. "You know him?"

_Duuuh, of course I do!_

"Yeah..." I replied. "It's kinda a long story but...where I come from, everyone knows him. I haven't met Sonic personally, but just a few hours ago, he was outside my front door..."

My friend listened with interest. "Oh. How is he?"

"From the looks of things, I think he's doing pretty good." But then, my smile faded. "I just wish I had the confidence to open my door and strike up a conversation..."

Elise gave me a sympathetic look and placed her hand on my shoulder. "Just wait for the right time... When it comes, walk up to him and say 'Hello'. I'm sure Sonic won't mind."

_That's actually... a pretty good idea._

"O-Okay..." I said.

After that, we continued on and eventually made it into Soleanna New City. Tall buildings towered over us and numerous citizens strolled around the town, going on about their daily lives. I noticed a knife on the ground at my feet and picked it up, earning a worried look from Elise. "Hey, um... I hope you don't mind me asking, but do you know how to use this...?"

"Sort of." Was the only answer I got.

I then gave the knife to her, gesturing for her to take it. "Well, if you end up in a threatening situation, use this to defend yourself. I know this might sound weird, since we just met but, I just...would like to help you out if things go downhill."

My friend smiled and took the knife from my grasp. "That's alright, I understand..."

I returned the gesture and noticed that there was another hole punctured into the wall, near the entrance we just came from. "I just need to go check something quickly, are you okay waiting here?"

"I'll be fine." Elise said, nodding as if she didn't mind.

I then made my way to the hole, looking back at my friend just once. "I'll be back in a minute..."

All I got was another nod and without hesitating, I crawled into the hole.

_Let's see where this heads to..._


	6. Chapter 6: Crisis City

**Chapter 6: Crisis City**

Truth be told, I expected to wake up in some place different, but I happened to be back in my apartment. Struggling to get together, I pondered over everything that occurred so far; getting beaten up, returning home, seeing Sonic, finding the hole and meeting Elise. I knew some parts actually happened but I was still confused. "What...?"

Pulling myself up to my feet, I took in the familiar surroundings of the living room. "It can't be... Everything was real... Or was it...really inside my head, the whole time?"

I then snapped back to reality, shaking my head in disbelief. "No, that's just stupid. What the hell am I thinking?"

Looking around, I noticed that the small cupboard next to the sofa I woke up on, had strangely been moved...god knows when. I shrugged and moved it, grunting and struggling as I did so. Behind it was another hole (much smaller) and a paragraph was written on a piece of paper beside it. "That's weird... How did this get here?"

I bent down, picked the sheet up and took a good ol' read, filled with curiosity and interest:

_"The faint hope I had is slowly changing to despair. I've somehow managed to tunnel this far, but no matter what I do, I can't get any farther._

_The hallway, the windows, the walls... It feel like this room is stuck in another dimension._

_Eileen never noticed..."_

"This is getting stranger and stranger." I muttered under my breath. Soon after reading that passage, I turned my head and looked into the new hole. The sight that greeted me was an ordinary bedroom. A bright shade of blue draped the walls and two darker shades of yellow and red coloured the carpet and bed. Sitting on it was Sonic and a seventeen year old Tails. They seemed very happy, enjoying each other's company as always.

"So what have you been up to recently, buddy?" Sonic asked.

The two-tailed fox grinned. "Well, I've just been tinkering with the tornado but other than that, not much has happened."

"I see." The blue hedgehog replied. "I'm heading out to meet Amy and Knuckles in the park a little later on, wanna come?"

Hearing this, Tails brightened up. "Sure!"

There was a moment of silence before Sonic turned to face Tails with an evil, mischievous smirk. "I'll race ya."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

Another moment of silence and they both tackled each other to the ground, grinning and snickering before Sonic dashed out of the room shouting: "Bet ya can't catch me!"

Tails instantly ran after him, laughing with delight. "Ooooh, we'll see about that Sonic!"

I shook my head with amusement and lifted myself up, turning round as I did so. Since the gap in the hole was pretty wide, I couldn't help but think about how hilarious it would be if I looked in there and Sonic happened to be looking right back.

_Wouldn't that be funny?_

But then, I suddenly remembered. Elise! She was still waiting for me. I smacked my forehead in annoyance and went over to my bedroom where the hole was.

_Damn you Megan! _

Once again without hesitating, I crawled in.

* * *

><p>Instead of finding myself back in Soleanna New City, I was in a different city. It strangely looked just like the previous site but it was engulfed in flames. The tall skyscrapers and buildings were rusted and dark orangey-brown, fiery birds which spitted out fire to defend themselves flew all around the city as if they were guarding the entire place. I also saw that in the streets ahead, there were a couple of disfigured and weird-looking monsters wandering around. The only good thing about it was that there was a decent blue sky, the rest earned a big nope. I pulled myself up to my feet and clutched my pistol tightly.<p>

_I gotta find Elise..._

"Megan!"

High heels clicked at a quick pace, accompanied by troubled panting. I turned to the right to see Elise running towards me, clutching her bloodied knife tightly in her gloved hand. Looks like she was brave enough to take out of a couple of the monsters already. Way to go, girl. "Elise!"

She eventually stopped and cupped her hands against her knees, gasping for breath. I walked up to her, placing my hand on her shoulder in concern, even though I was slightly confused as to why she was here. "Are you okay...?"

"Y-Yes... I'm alright..." Elise said, after managing to catch her breath, pulling herself up as she did so. "How did you get here?"

I frowned. "By coming through the hole that's right behind me. The real question is...how did you end up here?"

"It's a long story..." My friend answered. "We should probably find a way out of here."

Nodding in agreement, I released my hand from her shoulder and gestured for her to follow me. "You're damn right, Elise."

She eventually caught up with me and that was when our escape started. I ran at a steady pace, turning my head back every so often to check on my friend. She seemed okay so far, slightly disturbed by our surroundings but other than that, perfectly fine. I however, wasn't doing so good. I didn't have that many bullets so if I ran out, I would either have to resolve to using my fists or become an escort mission myself.

_Hell no, I ain't turning into that... _

I absolutely hated the idea of becoming baggage, so I pushed the thought away and kept my focus on getting out. There were two of the monsters ahead, making me instantly alert. Once we were close enough, I aimed my pistol right at the first one's head whilst Elise quietly snuck up on the second. I took a deep breath, knowing that this was the first time I had ever used a gun and pulled the trigger, just as my friend jumped on her target and stabbed it three times, killing it in a matter of seconds. Despite being the prim and proper princess I knew she was, Elise had a different side of her; she wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty.

And I kinda liked that.

"Nice one." I said, jogging up to her whilst keeping a firm grip on my gun.

Hearing this, Elise gave me a small smile. "You're doing well, yourself."

_Looks like this isn't so bad... Heh, heh..._

I noticed that there were several more monsters and a small group of fiery birds soaring into the sky. I knew why it wasn't dark and gloomy, because of what Silver and Blaze did at the end of their story. Oh, speaking of which, maybe they were somewhere in my world too.

"Megan?"

Snapping out of my thoughts, I mentally cursed myself for falling into an alternate reality. "Goddamnit kiddo, quit with the daydreaming..."

I was expecting Elise to be annoyed at me for what I did, but instead, she gave an understanding look. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you jump."

"It's not you." I replied. "Y' know, why don't we just keep moving. We can chat along the way."

Continuing on, we remained cautious as we ran past the monsters, taking out the ones that were closest to us. The thoughts that ran through my mind were endless; I wondered what happened to my mother, what Sonic was doing right now and even worse, what if he got caught up in this ordeal with us. I shook my head and aimed my pistol at a nearby monster, firing two or three bullets to kill it. Both Elise and I cringed as the monster let out it's distorted dying squeal before it hit the ground, out for the count.

Just as I was about to aim at another one, a fiery bird swooped down and latched it's claws onto my legs, sending me flying and hitting the ground. This time, I did hit my head. Letting out a groan, I pulled myself up to my feet and noticed that Elise was getting attacked by the monster that I had aimed for earlier. "Oh no..."

The monster she was facing was rather large, practically towering over her. It did have the shape of a human face, mainly female and terribly disfigured. Elise screamed in fright, too terrified to be able to stand up to it. I boiled with rage and went sprinting towards them, aiming my gun at the monster's face as I did so. "No you don't!"

But suddenly, a second fiery bird swooped down and caught me again, this time keeping it's firm grip on my frame and dragging me away. I let out a yell of fury, struggling and squirming to break free and aim my pistol at it.

I kept looking at Elise's situation and my eyes widened in horror.

_Oh dear god... _

**M-E**

"Elise, get back!"

Hearing the sound of Megan's voice calmed me down a little, letting me know that she was still there. But as much as I was concerned for my young friend, I had to think about my situation first. I readied my knife, waiting patiently for this...creature to attack and deliver the blow that would end my life. But, it didn't do anything. Just kept advancing towards me as if to let me know that it was a threat.

_Okay, I need to take care of this myself..._

Even though I was terrified, I reminded myself that Soleanna needed it's princess to be brave, so I raised my knife back and quickly did what I had to do. Stabbing it into it's torso, the creature let out a distorted, but feminine cry as it reeled back, almost losing it's balance. I gasped, thinking that maybe I actually managed to kill it with one single strike.

But, I was wrong.

My attacker pulled itself back up to it's feet and sent a blow which did some damage and sent me hitting the ground with a hard thud. I stumbled to and fro, struggling to clear my vision and get back up, but the creature delivered another blow on my own torso which caused a small part of my dress to rip apart and create an injury. Megan had apparently saw this as I heard her let out a furious yell of rage.

_Come on Elise, you have to try harder..._

I really wished for someone (maybe even Sonic) to show up and rescue us. I knew Sonic wouldn't be the one, since I blew out the flame but I thought...if he somehow would show up, then we would escape this terrible place and once we were back in Soleanna, I would introduce him to Megan. I felt like she deserved to get to know him, I mean... they were both kind and caring, would help me if I was in trouble and most of all, liked to run. They would be like siblings, I was sure of it.

But since it was just me and the young one, I had to take care of things. I pulled myself up to my feet and stabbed the creature again with a grunt. Instead of surviving barely, it let out that same horrifying cry and fell to the ground. I breathed heavily, trying to calm myself down after what I just did.

A troubled scream coming from behind startled me as I turned to see what was going on.

_Oh no... Megan..._

**E-M**

"ALRIGHT, THAT'S IT!" I screamed in anger and rage. I had enough of it, the fiery bird was going to go down.

Only just managing to wrench my shooting arm free, I aimed my pistol at my attacker and fired. Almost immeditley, the bird came crashing down to the ground with me still in it's rough grip and as soon as it hit, I was sent flying onto the roads, letting out a yelp of fright as I did so. Once I landed, Elise came running as fast as her legs could carry her. "Megan, are you alright?"

With a groan of pain, I struggled to lift myself up into a sitting position. "Not really, but I'll live."

My friend was about to offer me a hand when she noticed something on my arm, and gasped. "You're hurt."

Looking down, I saw that I had been cut and was bleeding pretty badly. What made it worse was that it left another stain on my shirt. "Don't worry about it, it's nothing."

_Great. Now this is gonna have to go in the wardrobe for a while, if I get time. Man, it's my favourite one too..._

But Elise wouldn't give in, as she bent down to inspect it. "Don't say that. Here, let me help."

She ripped a small part of her dress to use as a bandage and carefully wrapped it around my arm. I nervously looked around and almost flinched when she touched it. That would be another part of my condition, I'm not really that good with physical contact due to autism, but someday soon I had to get used to it. "Thanks, Elise... I appericate your concern."

All I got was a smile and a "I'm always happy to assist you if you are having a problem..." from my friend. After a while, I got back up on my feet with some assistance and soon enough, we were on our way again.

_Ah... I hope things turn out okay eventually..._


	7. Chapter 7: Unfortunate Escape

_Werewolf99: _Hi, sorry I haven't been responding to you. The Ice Age characters will appear in Chapter 9, so you don't have to wait that long. Really glad that you find this interesting!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7: Unfortunate Escape<strong>

The rest of the journey seemed okay, but there were still the occasional fights with the monsters and birds that lurked around.

I was now much better shape, thanks to Elise's assistance earlier. I told her about my condition, my lack of friends and how Sonic had helped me by doing what he did best through my life. She was deeply moved by what I told her and shockingly, understood and accepted me, unlike all of the kids back at my school.

_Hey, maybe I might get an actual friend after all..._

Before that, Elise told me about her life of duty and sacrifice. She mentioned the things she had to do at the castle, give out orders, check on her citizens... My friend didn't really get the chance to do what she wanted, a chance to be free.

And that was when Sonic came in. One certain night during the Festival of the Sun. During so, the princess had travelled all across her kingdom with my idol, despite getting kidnapped by Eggman so many times. Then came the events of the Last Story. As soon as my friend mentioned Mephiles, I tell ya, I almost tensed up and nearly said: "Don't mention that name."

Having played 06, I hated the villain with a burning passion. When he struck Sonic and killed him, I literally jumped out of my seat and screamed. I was only seven years old when the game came out so, it was pretty horrible for me.

But hey, at least there was a happy ending.

We came into a quiet area where no enemies were in view, and decided to take a quick break. I placed my hands on my hips, trying to think things over whilst Elise seated herself neatly on a nearby box with a blue and white star almost covering the whole thing. There was only a small moment of silence before the princess spoke up, apparently having a thought lingering on her mind.

"I hope my citizens are okay..." She murmured, so quiet that I nearly couldn't catch her sentence.

This made me instantly alert. "I'm sure they're fine."

_Hopefully..._

However, I couldn't stop worrying about my mother. I didn't know what was happening with her right now, and whatever Walter was doing to her right now, it certainly sent chills crawling down my spine. As soon as we got out, I would resume the tour and afterwards, say farewell. I didn't mind talking to new people, but I had a quest that I needed to focus on.

Elise saw this and even though she looked saddened, she nodded. "You don't have resume the tour, if you don't want to."

As soon as I heard those words, I gave her a look of shock. "No, I don't mind seeing the rest of your kingdom, it's just that..."

There was a pause. I didn't know how to finish my sentence, since I got so caught up with my worrying. "There's something that I really have to do."

"I understand. I know you might not want to talk about it, but maybe I can help..." The princess said.

_Bingo!_

I smiled. "Thanks, that would be great."

Just afterwards, there was another pause. I began thinking about what the Herd were doing and what would happen if they turned out to be real as well. I then made up my mind and decided to reveal why I was here. "Um, I have to..."

Elise lifted her head up in a flash, suddenly alert. "Yes?"

_Damn, how do I phrase this right?!_

"I'm...looking for someone. My mother..." Were the words that I eventually managed to get out. "She...she went missing all of a sudden, whilst I was coming home from school."

I began pacing around, trying to keep myself from having another panic attack. Whenever I had been overcome by a form of anxiety, I would end up suffering from these attacks if I didn't manage to calm myself down.

Feel free to blame my habit of worrying too much for that.

"This guy...I don't know who he is, but his name is Walter. He's taken my mum somewhere and I'm here to find them." I continued, shaking my head and squeezing my eyes shut for a brief second.

Just then, I felt two hands grab my shoulders and spin me round, so that I found myself staring right into the eyes of a concerned Elise. "H-Hey!"

**M-E**

Words cannot describe how massive the wave of sympathy was, when I heard that revelation come out of an innocent teenage girl.

I remembered how I lost both of my parents when I was a child, and I couldn't bear to think that the worst would come for Megan and her mother.

"Elise?"

_There has to be something I can do to help..._

I looked my young friend right in the eye, keeping a firm, but gentle grip on her shoulders. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry that this happened to you. Wherever you're going next, I'm coming with you."

"B-But don't you have a kingdom to look after?!" Megan asked, clearly confused as to what I was implying.

I tightened my grip. "No buts. You're only a young girl and you're out here, on a dangerous quest, by yourself. You should at least have someone looking after you, making sure that you're safe."

"The only person looking after me right now, is you." My friend replied.

_Oh..._

Hearing this, there was a moment of silence before I ended up doing the unexpected; I pulled Megan into my arms and hugged her tightly. Normally, I wouldn't have done this, but I felt so bad for her. I knew she would say something along the lines of "H-Hey we barely know each other!" or "What are you doing?!".

But she didn't do any of that.

The young girl wrapped her arms around my waist, returning the gesture and gave out a heavy sigh. "I don't know what to do..."

"I'm sure we'll think of something, don't worry..." I said, reassuringly.

We stayed like that for a longer, not saying a word. Eventually, I pulled away and then came up with an idea. "I'm just going to take a look around for some supplies. Are you okay here?"

Megan nodded, but didn't say anything. I smiled bravely and turned round, walking to the nearest exit out of the area we were in. Before that, I looked back at her to give four comforting words.

Which I didn't know, would be my last. "I'll be right back..."

"Okay..."

**E-M**

_(Several minutes later...)_

Elise said that she would be right back, and it feels like that it had been five years since she disappeared. I had began twirling my pistol in my hand, and tapping my foot with a hint of impatience. "Man, where are you?!"

_Heh, I'm becoming like Sonic when he got impatient..._

Suddenly, I heard a scream. Followed by a familiar laugh. "No..."

Clutching my pistol tightly, I began sprinting towards the location where Elise supposedly went. Breathing heavily, I prayed to the gods that my friend was okay.

Darting past corners and weaving my way through the dark alleys, a feeling of dread overwhelmed me as I raised my pistol, prepared to burst in and save the day.

_Come on, come on!_

As I ran past one last corner, I froze in my tracks. My eyes widened with guilt as I stared at the sight before me.

Elise...

My first proper friend...

Was dead...

It was a sight that would forever scar me.

"No..."

I slowly walked over and kneeled down. I felt so overwhelmed; I was too late. Reaching over, I gently closed her eyelids and gingerly picked her knife. The same one I had given her as a weapon. "I'm so sorry..."

I remained there for a while longer, before lifting myself up. I decided that I would keep her knife as a memory. Placing both of the weapons back in my jean pockets, I looked up at the cool blue skies for anything that would soothe my guilt.

_Hope you rest in peace, Elise..._


	8. Chapter 8: Switchback Cove

**Chapter 8: Switchback Cove**

"_And now the news. We are greatly saddened to report that Princess Elise of Soleanna has been found dead in the kingdom's forest. No one knows who is the murderer, but soldiers are currently investigating the case. Citizens have been paying tributes to the princess as they all realise that soon... They will need to find a new ruler._"

I sat up on the sofa as I did last time, still feeling guilty over what happened. If only she didn't head off. Lifting my legs over, I stared at the brown carpet, half closing my eyes and trying to calm my breathing.

_I should have saved her..._

After I remained there for a little longer, I pulled myself up, walked over to the smaller hole and kneeled down to peek through. "Let's see how Sonic's doing..."

Just like me, Sonic wasn't taking it very well either. He was pacing around his room, trying to pull himself together. I could hear occasional murmurs of Elise's name and a few metres behind him, was a small hole punctured into the wall. Maybe...after hearing that news report, my idol remembered everything that happened in 06.

_Poor guy..._

"Sonic, calm down. You need to move on with your life."

"Believe me Amy, I want to. But, you remember what happened in Soleanna, right?!"

"Yes, I do!"

A female pink hedgehog who looked about nineteen or twenty years old, came into view. She too was saddened at the loss, also remembered what happened in the kingdom. "Hey, why don't we head out somewhere to keep our minds of this. Just you and me..."

_Yeah, go on Sonic. I dare ya._

It took some convincing but eventually, my idol sighed and gave in. "Fine. But it's not a date, just us hanging out. Alright?"

"Yeah, sure." Amy replied, trying her best to stop herself from squealing. "I'll be waiting in the living room."

All she got was a nod and the pink hedgehog then left the room. Sonic sat down on his bed and took in his surroundings. Suddenly, he looked in my direction and slightly leaned forward. "Hello?"

I just remained silent. I didn't want Sonic to think of me as another crazy stalker, so I slowly backed away from the hole. Not knowing that he had walked over to have a look in. "Nope, no one there."

Hearing this, I quickly looked back in, only to see Sonic walking out of his room to join Amy. I smacked my forehead in annoyance, mentally cursing myself for blowing another chance to strike up a conversation. "Damn..."

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't be doing this. But, I was only doing it out of concern. If anything happened, I would dart in to prevent it from occurring. Only it was a serious issue.

Pulling myself up, I grabbed my weapons and went into my bedroom. Taking a deep breath and without hesitation, I crawled into the hole.

* * *

><p>I was awoken by the sound of birds chirping and a soft breeze blowing. With some effort, I managed to pull myself up, intending to find out where I was this time.<p>

The location I was in, certainly wasn't Soleanna for sure. Instead it was a snowy forest, draped in a bright white from top to bottom. There were some shades of green peeking through the leaves, but it still looked wintery.

As I took in my surroundings, I noticed that a hunting rifle had mysteriously been left on the ground. Almost like...it was left there for me. "Huh...?"

Gingerly picking it up, I checked to see if it was already loaded or needed bullets. Turns out, it was ready to go with twenty bullets in the chamber. Slightly odd, but that was the number.

"Well, twenty bullets seems to be enough. I suppose I'll find more..." I muttered.

Just then, I was startled by the sound of animal footsteps. A large gazelle was looking around the snowy land, seemingly happy with itself. Although behind me, I could hear the quiet growling of a feline.

_Am I...where I think I am...?_

Shaking the thoughts away, I looked at the gazelle and reluctantly aimed my rifle at it. I didn't want to kill the poor animal, but something was telling me that I should. Just as I was about to pull the trigger, the gazelle walked away.

Squeezing my eyes shut and reopening them, I cautiously followed the animal. "I gotta go after it..."

The chase was tiring and exhausting, but it was worth it at the same time. The gazelle eventually stopped in a clearing. Two or three rocks were draped in snow and frost, revealing white sparkles seen from a long distance. I darted up to a medium sized cliff, making sure that I was well hidden from the gazelle's sight.

"Okay..."

Cautiously, I aimed my hunting rifle at the animal. I knew that deep down, a voice would be screaming at me to not shoot, followed by another one which would be telling me to do it. After a four-second silence, I quickly shut my eyes and pulled the trigger.

A deafening gunshot rang out as the gazelle screamed in pain, already sprinting off up a steep hill. I reopened my eyes, darted down the cliff and followed my target in pursuit. "I shouldn't have done that..."

I sprinted up the steep hill, trying my best to keep up. The poor animal then disappeared around a corner and I stopped by throwing my rifle onto the ground, gasping for breath. Just like Elise had done in Crisis City, I clasped my hands onto my knees and mentally cursed myself for shooting the gazelle.

_What am I doing...killing an innocent animal like a psychopath...?_

It wasn't like me to do such a thing, as I loved animals with a passion. To be honest, I felt like that my mind was...almost being clouded by a source of possession, like I was being taken over an evil spirit. A deep-male voice began whispering in my ear, making three words heard in a loud volume:

_"Kill, the animal."_

I later picked my rifle and continued on. Walking into another (much larger) clearing, I quickly ducked down behind the nearest log I could find, since the gazelle happened to be standing in the very centre. It's wound was a severe one and left a rather long blood trail on the white snow. As soon as I saw it, I winced as a feeling of remorse began to overwhelm me. Suddenly, a different, but familiar voice rang out in my ear:

_"Megan, please don't. He's taking you over, he's forcing you to kill the poor thing!"_

Elise...

Why was I hearing her voice?

Maybe, I'm probably going insane, like I was imaging everything that had happened so far. As confused as I was, I responded to her in a fond manner. "I'm sorry Elise, I'm trying not to..."

But still, who was she talking about?

Shaking the thoughts off, I put my focus back onto what I was currently doing, whilst telling myself to listen to my deceased friend. Unfortunately, I ended up shooting the gazelle again. It screamed even louder and took off with me in hot pursuit. "Damn you, Megan."

I ran after it, fully aware that my feet were furiously yelling at me to stop by severely aching in pain. After sprinting up two other steep hills and reluctantly shooting the innocent gazelle two more times, I stopped at a cliff which gave a magnificent view of the sapphire blue ocean. Large blocks of ice crowded a small area on the right, along with an enormous green statue of liberty. Noticing that, I immediately recognised the location that I was in.

"Switchback Cove... I remember this place..." I murmured, gazing down at the happy animals that were running around and enjoying their daily lives.

_Heh, maybe I should go down there..._

Although unfortunately, the growling that I had earlier, began echoing again. Quickly turning round in all directions, I aimed my rifle at wherever this mysterious feline may be, panting in an anxious manner.

Just as I was about to shrug it off and make my way down, I heard a massive roar and found myself being tackled to the ground.

Screaming and thrashing, I struggled to escape, but the feline's grip was too tight. "GET...OFF ME!"

A set of other voices, probably about nine or ten, began yelling and several animal footsteps began thudding as they increased in volume. The feline's growling also grew louder as I fought so hard to escape. "HELP!"

Eventually, the footsteps and growls stopped, which gave me the chance to see who was my attacker. I found myself staring into the familiar green-hazel eyes of a certain smilodon that I knew very well.

_What the...?! They're real too...?!_


	9. Chapter 9: The Sub Zero Heroes

**Chapter 9: The Sub Zero Heroes**

"Diego!"

"Buddy, I've got this hunter, so don't worry!'

"Hey softie, chill! She's only a kid!"

The male smilodon (who I recognised as Diego) eventually got off me and went over to join the large group of animals who were now staring at me in absolute wonder. They were three mammoths; a father, mother and a daughter who looked about my age. Along with them were a male sloth, an elderly female sloth, two possums, a molehog and a female white smilodon.

I was speechless; both of my favourite series were real. Maybe, my dreams were becoming a reality after all.

_And for that, I didn't know what to say._

"Who are you?" The male mammoth said, standing in front of his family to protect them from me.

_When I wasn't going to even think about harming them!_

"I...I...I'm not a hunter." I stammered, wanting so badly to get onto their good side. "I just woke up back in the woods, and I somehow managed to get here by crawling through a hole in my apartment!"

Obviously, they weren't going to believe me. The male mammoth stepped forward in a threatening manner, clearly indicating that he thought what I just said was nonsense. "You crawled through a what?!"

His wife stepped forward as well, placing a gentle trunk on his shoulder. "Manny, maybe you let the child speak..."

"But Ellie, she's dangerous, we don't know who she is!" Manny protested.

Growing slightly irritated, I decided to speak up myself. "I'm a human!"

That shut them up, even though their staring was making me uncomfortable. Just as I was about to turn round and leave, Ellie reached out and gingerly wrapped her trunk around my wrist. "Hey, what's your name?"

Struggling to think of the right words, I was all of a sudden startled by hearing Elise's voice again:

_"Don't be scared Megan, just tell them...who you are..."_

My panting became more and more frantic, but at least I was able to reply. "My name's Megan Ellis."

Hearing this, Ellie gave me a friendly smile. "That's a lovely name. I'm Ellie, and this is my family. I'm really sorry about what happened before, we...just got a little panicked, that's all."

She then unwrapped her trunk and gestured to everyone else in the group. Some of the animals, including Diego and his wife Shira were also smiling at me. Seems weird, since they tried to attack me moments earlier but hey, you work with what you have. However, Manny still seemed skeptical.

"Um, hi..." I said to everyone else, feeling confused and and anxious. Like I stated before, I was an absolute sucker when it came to meeting new people, meaning that I was not confident enough to open up and just...be myself.

_If only there was a friend out there, who I could do those things with; release my emotions and be the cheerful, fun-loving person who I knew I was deep down..._

"Hey.." The daughter replied, walking up to me with the molehog sitting on one of her tusks. "Sorry about before..."

"T-That's fine..." I said, trying my best to remain tough even though I didn't want to. "What's your name?"

Hearing this, the daughter smiled brightly. "I'm Peaches, and this is my lovely friend Louis."

The molehog then gave me a small smile and said: "Hello...". Apparently, he was just as shy as I was. In that case, looks like I managed to get on some of the Herd's good side. Yes!

"Hi..." I said to Louis, returning the gesture. "I-It's nice to...meet you all..."

As soon as those words left my mouth, Peaches then suddenly came up with an idea, one that I didn't know would change my quest for the better. "Hey, Louis and I were going to go and hang out with Ethan and the girls. You wanna come?"

"Uh, s-sure..." I managed to reply. Just like Amy did back in Sonic's apartment, I was trying so hard to stop myself from squealing.

_Yay!_

"Come on then!" My new friend gestured for me to follow her, enthusiastically. Just as I was about to, some of the adults walked up and apologised for the attack earlier. Granny seemed impatient as she wanted to find her pet Precious, but she also looked interested to get to know me. "Welcome to the house kid."

I couldn't help but let an amused smirk appear on my mouth. "Thanks..."

Once I passed Manny, I looked at him with a hopeful spark in my eye, but all I got was a nod and a frown. Clearly, he wasn't fond of me. Having seen all four Ice Age movies and the Christmas short, I knew that Manny was only like this when he first meets someone. The good news was that after you spend more and more time with him, Manny changes from a cold and moody mammoth to a kind and loving one.

_To get him to that stage would take a VERY long time... _

Despite the fact that I felt nervous, I was ready. Deep down however, I hoped that none of the animals would end up murdered like Elise unfortunately did. God, I wish I managed to save her in time. I thought that if she was still here with us, she'd probably take charge of the situation and help me get on the Herd's good side.

She would've journeyed with us until the end. Maybe at some point, Sonic could have joined us therefore both him and Elise would have been together again. Just thinking about made me want to unleash my anger out on her murderer and release my guilt, desperately hoping for a chance of earning forgiveness. Hell, Silver's song 'Dreams of an Absolution' came into my head as the memories of Elise's death and my failure to save her flashed repeatedly.

"Hey!"

I was snapped back to reality when I heard Peaches shout out for me. "You coming?!"

Quickly pulling myself together, I placed the tough mask back on, picked up my rifle and began to follow my new friends. "Yeah, sorry. I just got caught up back there."

"Don't worry kid, it happens." Diego reassured me. "By the way, sorry for attacking you."

I just gave him a small smile. "It's fine, no need to keep apologising."

After that, we all just walked down the path leading to Switchback Cove. Some of the Herd were chatting away whilst I remained my usual state of silence, thinking about how my first proper friend was doing in the heavens, living on as a gentle spirit.

_I miss you..._


	10. Chapter 10: Brutal Attack

_Werewolf99: Thanks, I'm really glad that you're enjoying this so far! I know this may sound early, but what's your opinion on my OC, Megan? I think she's alright, but still... Alright then, I'll see what I can do..._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10: Brutal Attack<strong>

_(Meanwhile in South Ashfield...)_

**M-S**

The last couple of days have been a blur. I didn't tell anyone about what happened when I first moved in that apartment, since they wouldn't believe me. Strange events began occurring, starting with this hole appearing in my storeroom.

_Weird, I know._

So I go in, and I find myself in Soleanna. I haven't been there since the Flames of Disater came into play, even so, it was pretty nice to be back. No major changes, no new buildings, it was exactly the same kingdom I visited all those years ago. And the citizens were in a happy mood since the Festival of the Sun was taking place as I made my entrance. Truth be told, I was looking forward to seeing Elise again, because firstly Amy wasn't there to keep me away from ALL of the girls in my surroundings and secondly, it felt great to be in a place where I know someone who would assist me if I was ever in trouble.

And now here I am, back in South Ashfield, with Amy on what she thinks is a 'date'. She never outright told me what she thought, but I knew from the way my friend was looking at me; excited and happy.

_Well, who can blame her?_

"So, how are you feeling Sonic?" Amy asked, cheerfully.

"I'm alright, just hoping that today's going to turn out better." I replied, giving her a friendly grin as I did so.

Hearing this, my pink friend's green eyes brightened up. "Oh, I'm sure it will be just fine!"

I couldn't help, but smile at this. "Thanks Amy, I appreciate it."

We continued walking down the street, turning round a left corner and found ourselves entering a large park area with a small fountain in the very centre. A large group of kids (looking about sixteen or seventeen years old) were lounging around on the massive bench placed near the fountain. To be honest, I felt a little nervous going near them. Just recently, I've been getting hurtful e-mails and messages from teenagers who threw insults at me and begged me to change back into the 'Sonic' they knew.

One even went as far to send a really, really hurtful message: "Where's my beloved cute little buddy gone. I don't want him to change, ever."

_Well kid, people change. It's all a part of life; we grow up, we change._

Taking a deep breath, I followed Amy as we made our entrance. She became aware of my concerns and stayed close to me, making sure that I was alright. Normally I wouldn't be nervous, but this time, this situation was a little different. "Okay..."

As we made our way towards another bench a few metres in the distance, I was startled by a number of male voices shouting in triumph.

"There he is!"

"Get him!"

"Amy's here too; let's get her as well!"

Four seventeen to eighteen year old boys began to approach us in a threatening manner, some cracking their knuckles and others sneering with menacing glares.

_Oh no..._

I jumped in front of my pink friend, stretching both my arms out in order to protect her. Amy also got her Piko-Piko hammer out and prepared herself for what was about to come. "Sonic!"

"It's okay Amy, we're gonna get out of this..." I reassured her, getting myself ready for the fight that I knew was going to happen. "What do you want, lads?"

The leader; a furious and frightening eighteen year old stepped forward, glaring at me full of hatred. "We want you and your series to go down; not to be mentioned again."

"You're going down Sonic!" Another teenager yelled.

_Great, just great._

Despite the growing anger I felt boiling in my veins, I managed to remain calm. "Lads, I understand your opinion but the thing is, sometimes we just gotta get used to new things that come into our lives. It can be a good thing."

_And they're going to beat me up in 3, 2, 1..._

"Forget you!" The leader screamed right in my face. "Go back to Green Hill and stay there!"

Just before I was about to leave with Amy, I felt a hand grab me roughly by the shoulder and turn me round, with such powerful force. A hard fist connected with my black nose, erupting a loud crack and sending severe pain throbbing intensely. I screamed and placed both my gloved hands against it, trying to prevent the incoming scarlet blood from pouring out.

Amy apparently saw this, as she let out her battle cry and lunged towards the leader, swinging her hammer and delivering a brutal blow. The kid yelled in pain and collapsed to the ground, groaning. "Don't you dare hurt my Sonic again!"

That sent all of them running; even the leader who was supposed to be tough and menacing. As a matter of fact, he still was. After they disappeared from our view, Amy offered me a hand up and I gladly accepted it. "Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah. I'm fine Amy, don't worry..." I replied. Even though, I actually wasn't. "Are you?"

_Well, the kids certainly didn't make my day._

"I'm alright, I'm just worried about you Sonic." My pink friend said, her voice slightly cracked with emotion as soon as she finished her sentence. That made my heart ache. I gingerly wrapped my arm around her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down, feeling bad myself. "Hey, I'm still going to be around, even if something happens. That way, you'll know if I happen to be nearby."

She smiled at this, and eventually managed to compose herself. "Okay..."

We both then began walking out of the park, on our way back to the apartments. I would occasionally strike up a conversation and Amy would reply positively, but she still was worried. It wasn't long until a thought that will forever be on my mind struck me. "So you think there's a kid out there that likes me for who I am?"

"I don't know, maybe. Why?" Amy asked.

"Hm, I was just wondering if someone out there doesn't hate me, and doesn't want me to change back to who I used to be." I said, taking my thoughts in.

My pink friend then brightened up again, just the Amy I always liked to see. "I'm sure there's a child out there who likes you, maybe even a girl."

I couldn't help but let a genuine smile appear. "Yeah... That would be pretty cool..."

_Hopefully, she's out there somewhere... I gotta find her..._

* * *

><p><em>(Back in Switchback Cove...)<em>

**S-M**

I have only just spent a few hours in Switchback Cove and so far, everyone seems really nice and friendly. Sure, they were frightened at first, but I told the animals that I meant no harm. I spent a couple of minutes with Peaches and Louis, and we seem to get along really well. They asked me some questions about my interests, I told them, but I decided to leave Sonic out. Due to a...personal reason.

_Heh, this place isn't so bad..._

"Buck and Flynn should be back soon." Sid said, in his usual happy and smiley mood. Even though he can be annoying sometimes, he's a cool dude.

Hearing this, Crash and Eddie both cheered in excitement and high-fived each other. "YES!"

I understood why they were so pleased; Buck was like...a well respected and almost brotherly idol to them. Similar to how I felt about Sonic, despite the fact I haven't met him yet. Every so often, I would dream about what scenarios would take place if I managed to bump into him personally; I knew first and foremost that I would be shy and quiet, but as I would begin to spend more time with my idol, I would slowly start to open up. Like I said before, I really wanted to find someone who I could release my emotions and form an attachment with.

_Maybe...there is someone who could be out there... Who knows?_

"For once, I agree with you guys. Buck is a cool weasel." Diego said, grinning at the possums with amusement.

Just then, Granny, Peaches and Louis came into the clearing. The elderly female sloth instantly marched up to Sid and began shouting in his face for him to feed her a ripe-red apple. "Sid! Can you chew this thing for me?!"

"You have your shark teeth, Granny! Where did you last see them?!" The sloth replied.

There was a moment of silence before the answer came. And believe me when I say, I almost cracked up laughing. "I can't remember when I last saw them so you have to find them before Precious eats them!"

_Don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh..._

"Guys, guys, guys! I just saw Buck a few minutes ago, he'll be here any minute now." Peaches said, grinning from ear to ear. Louis was smiling too, maybe he met Buck before I arrived. The Herd maybe had an adventure in a different world, before this one.

_The possibilities are endless, after all..._

"Wow, you guys seem really happy!" I commented, feeling pleased for them.

My comment got a number of grins coming from the possums and the teenagers. I was getting along with the animals REALLY well. My day couldn't get any better. Just as we were about to enjoy the day further, a loud and terrified scream echoed all across the hills, sending cold chills down my spine.

"_Attack!_"

We all got up and started to investigate, but a group of monsters, about ten or twenty of them suddenly fell out of the sky. Static began erupting from a radio that mysteriously appeared at my feet, somehow indicating the monsters' presence. I quickly picked it up, stored it into my backpack and grabbed my hunting rifle. "Guys, run! It's not safe!"

Peaches, Louis, Sid, Granny and the teenagers sprinted, but Diego remained. "Kid, you can't take them on your own, I'm going to help you!"

"Don't worry about me Diego, just run!" I shouted. I didn't want anyone to get hurt, especially not after...it hurts to say it but, it's the truth. The smilodon eventually gave in and ran to join the other animals in their hiding place, before telling me that he was around in case I needed assistance. The monsters were a mixture; mannequins, lying figures, air screamers, closers and dogs. They all looked terribly disfigured, but I wasn't going to let that stop me.

An air screamer lunged towards me and I pulled the trigger, killing it in a matter of seconds. A mannequin saw this as it sprinted towards me and connected it's fist with my jaw, sending a small amount of pain throbbing in my skull. I groaned as I smacked my attacker with my rifle, sending it tumbling to the ground with me finishing it off with a stomp to the head.

Two closers then made the next move, only just managing to hit me in my torso and sending me falling down. Just as they were about to finish me off, I shot them twice one by one, killing them instantly.

"That's right, you go girl!" Both Peaches and Sid cheered, pumping their trunk/fist in the air.

I quickly gave them a two-fingered salute and sprinted towards the right to get a better aim. "Okay..."

Firing at three lying figures, I killed them and there was a small number of monsters left, plus the static on the radio was gradually starting to fade.

_Bingo!_

Four dogs began advancing towards me, growling in a threatening manner. Even though I felt scared, I just aimed my rifle and fired, just before one of them lunged towards me and scratched my face with it's sharp claws. I screamed in pain, which prompted Diego to run out and tackle the other one to the ground, digging his fangs into it's throat and shaking it in a furious way until it fell lifeless. He then dropped the corpse to the snowy ground and gave me a look of triumph. "You're welcome."

All that was left was a closer, an air screamer and a lying figure. Working together, both Diego and I managed to take them out and soon, the static faded completely. Absolute silence and bliss.

"Are you okay?" The smilodon asked, with genuine concern lacing his tone.

I felt rather shocked at what just occurred but regardless, I smiled bravely. "I'm fine, don't worry."

Just then, Manny, Ellie and Shira ran into the clearing, followed by a familiar weasel and elephant seal. "Is everyone alright?"

"Yup!" Peaches said, coming out the hiding place with Sid, Granny, Louis and the teenagers in tow.

Panting, I managed to pull myself together and turn round to face my new friends. A sudden realisation hit me. If I told them about my quest, then maybe they'd be in to help.

"Hey guys," I began. "T-There's...something I need to tell you."

_Alright, let's how this goes..._

* * *

><p><strong>Phew, that's that done. Thank goodness...<strong>

**The good news is that Buck and Flynn are here, but the bad news is that the next world is where the horror element will really start to come in. **

**By the way, does anyone have a feeling that Megan and Sonic are going to eventually meet? I mean...he wants to find someone who will accept him and she wants to find someone who she can open up to. Hopefully, they will...**

**Feel free to leave a review and hope y'all are enjoying this so far!**


	11. Chapter 11: Seductive Butterfly

_Werewolf99: Cool, thanks for sending the info in. Oh boy... Um, my OC's deepest fears would probably have to be... Losing everyone she loves (Her family, Sonic, the Herd) and being by herself in both the real world and the nightmare worlds._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11: Seductive Butterfly<strong>

Well it's safe to say that after the attack, we were all fine. I decided to stay a little longer to get to know Buck and Flynn. I also told the animals about my quest and just like I suspected, they were in to help. But unfortunately, I had to go back into the hole. The Herd were completely okay with this, and I thought to myself: 'Heh, maybe I might see them again.'

_Anything can happen..._

"Okay..." I said after I woke up in my apartment and pulled myself to my feet. I decided to give myself a little routine; as soon as I wake up, check on Sonic, gather some weapons and that's it. Bam! Done. Kneeling down in front of the small hole in the wall, I peeked in.

Unfortunately, Sonic wasn't in his room; presumably he was still out with Amy. But instead, a twenty-eight year old Knuckles and a twenty-four year old Shadow were in the room. The red echidna was pacing around the room, whilst the black-red hedgehog had his arms folded and red-brown eyes shut, prehaps thinking about a past adventure or his friend Maria.

_Let me get this straight; all of the Sonic characters are real. So, if they somehow end up in the nightmare world with me and my new friends, then the quest is going to be pretty hectic, I tell ya._

"So you think Sonic's alright?" Knuckles asked, with concern lacing his tone. Usually him and my idol bickered and argued a lot, but at least they were on good terms.

Hearing this, Shadow opened his eyes and gave the echidna a strange look. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you know, I just discovered this hole in the storeroom which happens to be blocked. Do you think before it got blocked up, Sonic could have gone in?" Knuckles seemed confused, as he was trying to figure out what the hole's purpose was.

Much to my growing annoyance. They really need to talk to Sonic about it when he comes back from the date with Amy.

_I'll tell you this, the hole's purpose is to lead you to a series of nightmare worlds controlled by a manic who murdered 21 people, AND TRAP YOU IN THEM!_

Realising what I just did, I smacked my head and cursed myself for mentally screaming my thoughts at Sonic's friend. I didn't actually mean to do it, it's just that...whenever I get extremely annoyed, it would sometimes lead to an outburst. During my teenage years, I've learnt to control them as I didn't want to hurt my family and leave them damaged. But during my childhood, I was unable to control and prevent the outbursts from occurring.

"I think we need to have a chat with Faker when he gets back." Shadow said, dreading that he would soon have to put up with Sonic and the constant name calling.

Knuckles nodded, got up and gestured for him to follow him. "Yeah, you're right."

_Yes!_

And with that, they both left the room. "Hmph."

I pulled myself up to my feet and went over to grab my firearms. After quickly reloading my hunting rifle and pistol, I stored them into my blue backpack and threw open my bedroom door.

Taking a deep breath and once again, without hesitation, I crawled into the hole.

* * *

><p>"Kid...Kid...KID!"<p>

My eyes snapped open as I was startled awake. I couldn't find any words to describe the place I was in now, but the only thing I could describe, was the temperature.

_It's so damn cold..._

"Kid, get up."

I did as the male said, recognising his voice instantly. Towering over me, was a large mammoth coated in dark brown fur, a steel glare creasing his cheeks. Manny.

My eyes widened slightly. "What are you doing here...? I thought you were still in Switchback Cove..."

The mammoth just gestured behind him, and the rest of the Herd were here too; Ellie, Peaches, Diego, Shira. Even Buck and Flynn were here.

_WHAT...?!_

"We can go to different worlds too." Manny said, still glaring at me. "Come on."

Muttering under my breath, I followed the mammoth and went to join the massive group formed in the centre. Feeling more annoyed, I decided to take in our surroundings and figure out where we were. Buildings of all sizes were dotted here and there, the radio was faintly blurring into life with static and all we could see, was thick grey fog.

"Just where are we?" Buck asked, with confusion overwhelming him. Flynn was just as confused as he was. "Doesn't seem very welcoming, this place." He put in.

_Oh, how I agree..._

"Alright guys, we need to stick together and find out where we are. Let's go and take a look around." Ellie said. Truth be told, it was a good thing that she was one of the leaders because, since Manny hated me, I could always go to Ellie if I needed something.

But right now, we had more important things to be thinking about.

I followed the Herd as they took off, reaching for my pistol, just in case if any monsters decided to jump out and attack us. The town had a REALLY wide space, so it would have been easier if we just avoided any incoming attacks. We sprinted down the roads, just narrowly running past the monsters as the radio blurred with full static, alerting us to where our enemies were.

Turning a right corner, I managed to overtake everyone else as we ran, clutching my weapons tightly. A little behind us, I heard Buck's cowboy yell as he rammed his knife into a nearby lying figure, killing it with one strike.

Eventually, the radio's static began to die down and we all stopped to catch our breath. As I looked up, I noticed someone walking towards us in the fog and slowly began to realise that this wasn't a monster; she was just a regular human being.

"Who is that...?" Peaches pondered, moving cautiously to stand next to Ellie. "Mum...?"

"It's okay sweetheart, I'm sure she wants to help us." The older female mammoth reassured her. "Megan, you gonna talk to her?"

"Yep. You guys stay here, I'll be right back." I said to everyone, before going to investigate. As the stranger got closer, she broke into a full sprint. Not sure about the whole thing, I cautiously aimed my pistol, placing my finger on the trigger. Soon, we both reached each other and she threw herself onto me, keeping her arms latched firmly around my neck. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Lady, calm down, take a breather..."

She eventually let go, giving me the chance to get a good look at her. Her ice blue eyes were filled with negativity which told me that she went through a hard time. Her outfit was bright and revealing; a red long-sleeved top unbuttoned half-way, a darkish pink choker and skirt with a back leopard print sprayed everywhere. To add to the finishing touch, her blond hair looked fine but had several pink locks at the bottom. Clearly, she looked as though she wanted to find someone. And I was about to see whether this woman was trustworthy or not.

"You're not James." She said, studying me with curiosity.

I lowered my pistol and stared at her. "Who are you?"

"Who are your little friends?" She asked back, pointing at my idols who stood a bit far behind, filled with fear and suspicion. "By the way, my name...is Maria."

_At least you answered my question._

"My friends are a group of amazing animals from the ice age." I answered, honestly. "You said you were looking for someone?"

Maria sighed. "Yes, yes, I did. His name's James and I met him a few years back, in this very town. He was...looking for his dead wife, Mary, as she sent him a letter, beckoning him here. I offered to help, despite him always telling me that I look a lot like her."

_Three words: What. The. Heck._

"Did this dude let you?" I asked, slowly growing uncomfortable. Now I'll tell you something; Maria seemed very strange and mysterious. The Herd looked as though they didn't particularly want her to join our group, but I wouldn't let that stop me from what I was about to say. "I mean...we can help you, if you'd like."

Hearing this, the anger in her blue eyes faded and my new friend smirked with a mixture of happiness and mischief. "He didn't want to at first, but I managed to coax him into it."

Manny clearly had enough and stormed over to the pair of us; filled with rage and fury. My only guess was that he thought the number of members in the herd was enough. "Hey lady, look for your friend on your own. We don't need any more members, eleven is enough."

_Argh, stop making everyone feel down!_

"C'mon mate, can't you see that Maria needs help?!" I demanded.

"Yes, I can. But I don't want her with us in case she harms my family." The mammoth then advanced on her. "Leave, now."

I initially thought my new friend was going to be nervous, and she was a little. But the good thing was that she wasn't afraid to stand up for herself. "Look, this young lady just offered to help me with my search, and I really appreciate it. But if she is, then you're gonna have to play nice aswell."

I had never seen Manny this angry before, so to see him like this personally, it really frightened me. But like I stated before, he only behaved this way because of new people. Even humans. I looked at him and decided to calm things down. "Please...She really needs help."

There was a moment of silence. The rest of the Herd were now agreeing with me, as they too wanted to aid my new friend. I actually thought Manny was going to reconsider and let her join us.

But then, the response came.

"No. That human is not coming with us. Kid, you're the only human we need."

He wrapped his trunk around my wrist and pulled me back to the rest of my idols, with me struggling and squirming to break free. "Come on guys, let's get out of here."

Quickly managing to sneak a glance back at Maria, I (along with Ellie, Peaches and everyone else) gave her an apologetic look and murmured three words, low enough that the mammoth wouldn't hear. "We're so sorry..."

_And we all genuinely meant that..._


	12. Chapter 12: Bonding

**Chapter 12: Bonding**

The next couple of minutes were what I could only describe as difficult; more monsters to fight for starters. But what made it more harder was that we all were in complete and utter silence; following our meeting with Maria.

_I understood why Manny acted the way he did; he just wants to protect his family. But still, it doesn't hurt to let new people into your life if they're friendly and trustworthy..._

"Hey kid," Shira said, catching up to me followed by Diego. "Are you okay?"

Clutching my weapons more tightly, I gave them a brave smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just a little frustrated, that's all."

Diego frowned. "Because of what happened earlier...?"

"Um, yes, but...it's also about something else." I replied, carefully choosing my words.

Hearing this, Manny whirled his head round and glared at me. "What?"

I immediately threw my hands up in defense. "Nothing, nothing!"

_At some point, things are gonna get rough. Really rough._

"Good." The mammoth simply replied, before turning round and continuing on. I felt more frustrated than ever, that I just wanted to throw my fist into the nearest wall I could find. I mean... Why couldn't things be bright and positive between me and the Herd? They were with Ellie, Peaches, Shira, Diego and the others, but Manny? No.

I breathed a heavy sigh, thinking of someone I held close to my heart. "I wish you were here with us..." I whispered to myself. Just then, a soft breeze filled with warmth swept through the locks of my brown ponytail. This sent a tingling and positive sensation flooding through my chest, making my lips turn up into a small smile.

_Who knows, maybe she is..._

**M-E**

"_Don't worry Megan, I'm right here..._" I whispered soothingly, smiling as I gazed fondly at the innocent child who walked calmly and bravely with the large group of prehistoric animals.

Truth be told, I didn't understand why the mammoth was being so mean to her. He probably thought of my friend as an enemy, a threat that he needed to take care of. But why can't he see that she's a kind young girl who will do anything to help others in need?

_Because he needs to take time to get to know her..._

Ever since I left this world, I found peace in the heavens; a glorious place where spirits can live in harmony. The blossoms on the trees are a pure white and the meadows are draped in different shades of spring. Some people describe it as the 'Beyond' but to me, it was a gentle and wonderful home we find shelter in after we perish.

But I had to make sure that Megan was safe; so I came back down into the world as a spirit and kept watch, hovering over her and the animals as if I was an an entity.

The group continued walking down the cold and foggy streets, still in silence. I could hear sounds of deep breaths coming from my young friend, so I quickly floated over to where she was.

"_Hey, hey, are you alright?_"

No answer. Obviously she couldn't hear me. I thought...maybe she was trying to calm herself down and prevent any negative emotions burst out of control.

If only I hadn't run off and left her behind, which forced me to meet my death...

"_I'm so sorry... I shouldn't have done what I did..._"

But at least, I could keep watch from the heavens.

**E-M **

"Take it easy, take it easy..." I kept repeating to myself quietly, not realising that I had alerted most of the herd, even Manny. I suddenly felt their eyes locked onto me, which forced me to grip my pistol so tightly, that my knuckles were turning into a bright white.

_I hate being the centre of attention..._

"Guys, why don't we head inside that building over there?" I suggested, pointing towards the steps leading up into a...

Hospital?

_Bad idea, bad idea, bad idea!_

"Yeah, I'm saying we should all head in there too. Good job kid." Manny commented, giving me a nod of appreciation before heading off, followed by Sid, Diego, Buck and Flynn.

My reaction was priceless. I just stood there with my jaw dropped to the ground, knowing full well that my face had the message of "What the hell just happened?!" pictured on it. Crash and Eddie were snickering, trying not to give in to their eventual laughter whilst Ellie, Peaches, Shira and Diego were looking at me with amusement. After a four second silence, the possums burst out laughing.

"What?!" I demanded, snapping back to reality.

"You should see the look of your face!" Crash managed to shout, whilst laughing his head off.

"Your reaction looked so stupid!" Eddie added, trying to stifle his laughter.

_Oh really..._

I began walking to catch up with the others, but as soon as I passed the possums, I gave them a mildly amused look. "Yeah, thanks guys." I scoffed.

Truth be told, I expected to get a different reaction, but the one I got was a lot better. "Oooooh, it is on sister!"

Grinning mischievously, I gave them a two-fingered salute. Sid had apparently saw what just happened and came up to me. "That was a cool thing you did back there."

Hearing this, I smirked evilly. "I have my ways."

The sloth chuckled and Granny gave him a look of annoyance. "Hey Sidney, wait up!"

"I am waiting!" Sid protested, sighing and shaking his head.

**M-M**

"Hey Manny, mind if I could talk to you for a second?" Ellie asked, walking next to me.

I gave her a loving smile. "Not at all."

My wife took a deep breath. "Okay well, I know we only just met her, but I have this feeling that we all should look out for Megan."

_We only need Peaches, not the human..._

"Why?" I asked, giving the hint that I didn't want anything to do with her. "I still believe that she's a threat to us."

Ellie sighed. "I get what you mean, but she's only a child and her mother's missing. Until she finds her, we should look after her."

As much as I disliked the kid, I had to accept that my wife was right. "I just want to protect you and my family."

_I really do..._

"Manny," Ellie murmured, placing a gentle trunk on my shoulder, nuzzling me. "I know you do, but sometimes it doesn't hurt to let new people into our lives; so we should let Megan join us."

I nuzzled her back, thinking about my loving wife's words. I couldn't help but look back at the kid. She was laughing at one of Crash's jokes with Peaches and Louis as they walked through the massive fog, surrounding us. A small smile tugged at my lips as I watched them. "Maybe, you're right..."

_I mean, the kid probably wasn't so bad after all... Right?_

**M-M**

"Okay, okay, I really need to calm down." Louis said, grinning whilst looking at Peaches with those cute blue eyes of his.

Shira gave a cheerful laugh. "Yeah, I agree with you Louis."

_At least the atmosphere is now positive..._

"Can I tell you guys one more joke?" Crash pleaded. I could tell from the look on his face that he had tons of them up his fur. As much as I wanted to say "Yes", I knew we had to continue.

"Sorry Crash, maybe a little later?" I suggested, giving him a friendly smile.

After a one minute silence, the possum shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

_It's a deal._

Soon, we managed to catch with Manny and the others, standing outside the entrance to the hospital. I couldn't help but look at the sign which told us the establishment's name:

**Brookhaven Hospital**

Manny then turned to face all of us, after a moment of thought. "You guys ready for this?"

We all nodded, some of us feeling slightly frightened and scared. I certainly was, for I was not a huge fan of hospitals. Whenever I had to go in for an emergency (whichever it may be), I absolutely dreaded it. But if it was family member who needed help, I would go in anyways. "Y'know what, let's just...get this over with..." I said.

"Alright then."

One by one, we entered. Some of us relieved that we no longer had to face the cold, but others not so much.

As I took my first step into the hospital, I took a deep breath, knowing that at some point, trouble was going to occur. "Okay..."

_Let's do this..._


	13. Chapter 13: Nightmare World

**Chapter 13: Nightmare World**

"Whoa, this place is terrifying!" Eddie murmured, hiding behind his brother and shaking fearfully.

The lobby of Brookhaven Hospital was dark, and believe me when I say, it was really dark. It was like you couldn't see a thing. But it was just like any other hospital. Beds and gurneys sitting in the hallways, multiple doors leading here and there. The only differences were that some of them were locked and others were shut so tight that no one could open them at all.

_I need a flashlight..._

"This is a bad idea." I groaned. "Hospitals are never a good thing."

Manny turned to give me a strange look. "Then why did you come up with it, then?"

"Because I thought this was a different building, and that we had to take shelter from the fog." I answered truthfully.

_Plus to hide away from the monsters..._

Just as Manny was about to reply, Buck spoke up, interrupting our conversation. "Well since we're new here, we might as well check out reception."

_Thanks a lot, Buck._

Despite our growing suspicions, we all agreed and only a small group of us went in; Me, Sid, Granny, Crash, Eddie and Buck himself. The reception did not have a big space, the walls were a greyish-white and to our right, was a green shelf with tons of books placed neatly upon it. However to the left, a small brownish desk stood waiting for us, crowded with a series of hospital notes and procedures, just longing to be picked up and read. The only thing that caught my eye was a bright red symbol shining on the wall, making it's presence known. I also noticed a flashlight sitting on the table, to my great relief.

"Yes!" I grinned as I picked it up and tied it around my backpack strap, switching it on as I did so. "Now things should be a lot better."

Sid was scanning through a doctors' journal with confusion and interest, staring at the writing. "Hmm... Hey, you should take a look at this."

He handed me the journal and I quickly flicked through the pages, stopping as soon as I reached the tenth page. "What the hell is this...?"

"_The potential for this illness exists in all people and, under the right circumstances, any man or woman would be driven, like him, to the 'other side'._

_The 'other side' perhaps may not be the best way to phrase it. After all, there is no wall between here and there. It lies on the borders where reality and unreality intersect. It is a place both close and distant. _

_Some say it isn't even an illness. I cannot agree with them. I'm a doctor, not a philosopher or even a psychiatrist._

_But sometimes I have to ask myself this question. It's true that to us, his imaginings are nothing but the inventions of a busy mind. But to him, there simply is no other reality._

_Furthermore, he is happy there._

_So why, I ask myself, why in the name of healing him must we drag him painfully into the world of our own reality?_

_I got the key from Joseph. It's probably the key to that box._"

After reading that passage, I slammed the book shut and handed it back to Sid. "A key to that box...? I wonder what he meant by that?"

"I'm wondering the same thing..." Sid replied, nodding as if he understood.

Hearing this, Buck and Granny came over to see what was going on. They too seemed creeped out by the journals and procedures they read. Clearly, like I said before, this was a creepy hospital.

"I don't know why we came into a horrible place like this, I'm outta here!" Granny declared, pointing her walking stick at the rest of us to show that she meant business.

We all agreed and one by one, we exited the reception. For some reason, I couldn't help but feel that something was behind that symbol, like it had a meaning to something. The rumours of Silent Hill being something different than a peaceful resort town suddenly came into my head, which prompted a horrible realisation to hit me.

_What if...those rumours are true? Are we...in Silent Hill...?_

"Hey Megan, you coming?" Louis asked, snapping me back to reality. "We're gonna head up to the second floor."

I quickly shook my head, blinking a couple of times and nodded. "Yeah, I'm coming."

_Please don't let anything disturbing occur..._

After that, we began the journey up to the second floor of Brookhaven Hospital. The plan was to head into any rooms that we could find, see if there was anything useful and fight any of those monsters from before if they decided to show up. Once we managed to get in, the radio immediately blurred to life with static, giving us the impression that we weren't alone.

"Okay guys, you stay back whilst I deal with this. If I get into trouble, do what you can to help, alright?" I said, with concern lacing my tone. They nodded to say that they understood and I clutched my pistol tightly.

Two sets of footsteps increased in volume as I cautiously walked down the hallway, aiming my pistol into the darkness, bracing myself for what was about to come. A distorted feminine cry echoed, indicating that it's owner wanted only thing; to murder everything and everyone that it could see. Keeping my finger carefully placed on the trigger, I took a deep breath and quickly looked back at the Herd. To make things worse, they were absolutely terrified.

"_Megan, look out_!" Peaches screamed.

Hearing this, I turned back round in a flash, only to be knocked to the ground with a steel pipe. Letting out a groan of pain, I struggled to get back up and in the process, managed to get a good look at my assailant. Honestly, the only way I could describe her was grotesque. Her white dress was covered in dirt and dry blood as was her pale skin. The top she wore was unbuttoned half-way, similar to how Maria's clean red top was. But her skirt was really short that seeing her outfit made me uncomfortable and want to scream "Put something non-revealing on!". Even worse, she had no eyes, no nose, no mouth, no hair, nothing. Just a crooked face with no features.

_Heh, kinda reminds me of the Slenderman..._

I instantly fired two bullets at her, making her lose her balance, stumble slightly and yell out in pain. Taking advantage, I fired again. "C'mon, c'mon!"

But still, she wouldn't go down. Growing more and more frustrated, I pulled the trigger again, pumping five or seven bullets into the nurse. This time, she did fall down, giving me the chance to finish her off. Which I did so.

Just as I was about to reload my pistol, the second nurse delivered a brutal blow with her weapon, sending me flying until I hit the ground.

_Ah, f*ck!_

The nurse let out her distorted cry and lunged towards me, intending to finish me off. I braced myself for the blow, but it never came. Thanks to Manny.

"Oh no, you don't!"

He instantly whacked my second assailant brutally with his trunk, making her hit the nearest wall hard. Just as he did this, I managed to reload my pistol and aimed it at her, firing one bullet to end her life. The static then faded away from the radio, resulting in blissful silence. Breathing heavily I rubbed my head in pain, groaning as I did so.

Diego quickly ran over and held out a paw to me, indicating that he wanted to help me up. "You okay kid?"

"Yeah, I guess so..." I answered, as I accepted it.

_Let's hope our trip through here gets better..._

Just as I was about to thank Manny for what he did, a loud siren echoed all around us. I felt a powerful sensation of pain start to throb in my head, making horrifying visions flash in front of my eyes. I saw the creepy man in the blue coat grin evilly. He held a bloodied knife and looked at me as if I was his next target. My vision then began to slowly glow a bright red, sending more pain throbbing through my head.

Unable to fight it any longer, I let out a blood-curling scream and collapsed to my knees, cupping my hands against my temple. The Herd didn't know what to do, as they too began to become affected by the shades of horror.

"What do we do?!"

"There's no way that we can stop this!"

"Guys, we have a kid that's in pain right now!"

The last thing that I heard was Ellie, Peaches and Shira scream out my name, before I fell into the darkness, unconscious.

_When am I going to wake up...?_


	14. Chapter 14: Running the Gantlet

**Chapter 14: Running the Gantlet**

"_It's being invaded by the Otherworld. By a world of someone's nightmarish delusions come to life._"

To be honest, I didn't know how long I was out, nor where the Herd were. But what I did know, was that something horrible and terrifying was about to happen. Unfortunately, I was still trapped in the darkness, unable to see or feel anything. Although, I could hear a series of distorted familiar voices echoing around me. They didn't just belong to my prehistoric ice age idols.

"_I hope my luck changes before Tails and I have to go to that party_."

"_You're only a young girl and you're out here, on a dangerous quest, by yourself. You should at least have someone looking after you, making sure that you're safe_."

"_She's dangerous, we don't know who she is_!"

"_You can't take them on your own, I'm going to help you_!"

"_You're not James_."

"_Leave, now_."

A bright white light shone in my direction, almost blinding my eyes. Before I had a chance to find out what it's purpose was, I suddenly found myself being dragged towards it a very high speed, and I mean very. Just in a matter of seconds, I was drawn into it and the darkness around me eventually gave in to light.

I blinked a large number of times in an effort to wake up. The Herd were in trouble, probably running around the dark and empty hallways and fighting off the nurses without me. I have to find them...

"_Megan..._"

Mum?!

"_Megan..._"

I swore that sounded a lot like her. I pulled myself up to my feet and began sprinting into what seemed to be...an endless abyss of white. "Hang on Mum, I'm coming!"

"_Megan..._"

Now she spoke in a really quiet manner, almost like a whisper. Millions of questions were flooding through my head, forcing another panic attack to take me over.

_Oh no, no, no, no! F*ck!_

Eventually, the light slowly faded away. I snapped my eyes open and gasped for breath, trying to pull myself together. My mother was nowhere to be found and it was almost like...she was fading away as she whispered my name. Instead of that white abyss I only just managed to escape from, I was in a very small room. There was only one door a few feet away, a broken mirror on the walls and a blood-stained cupboard blocking a ladder in front of me.

_What the hell...?_

Once again, I pulled myself up and with some effort, I staggered over to the cupboard, panting in agony as I did so. It seemed weird because I could recall screaming in pain and falling to the ground back on the second floor. My white shirt (my favourite white shirt) was now blood-stained in several different areas: torso, neckline and the arms. Quickly having a peek in the mirror to check the state I was currently in, my heart sank further.

_Who did this...?!_

Horrible bruises were dotted here and there on my temple, chin and neckline. To make things even worse, my hands were covered in a dark scarlet red at the fingers. If a stranger looked at me right now, they would have thought of me as an insane murdering psychopath and run away.

I sighed. "For god's sake..."

Suddenly the door opened and someone very familiar stepped in. Her blue eyes shone with relief as her lips curled up into a smile. Truth be told, I mistakenly thought it was Shira. But when I saw the pink-red top and blond hair, I stepped back, not wanting her to see my current condition. "Maria?"

The woman's smile brightened. "Thank goodness you're alright..."

"What are you doing here...?" I wanted to know. "I thought you were still out there in the fog."

Hearing this, Maria shook her head and took a step forward. "No, I decided to come in here, because I wanted to find you.. Where are your friends?"

_You were looking for me?!_

"God knows where my friends are, I have no idea." I answered, wincing in pain as I finished my sentence.

Unfortunately, Maria saw this and took another step forward. I tried to shield myself away (as I didn't want to worry her), and accidentally gave away my condition.

_Uuuuuuugh! Damn you Megan!_

The reaction I got was a horrified gasp and a gentle hand cupping my right cheek. "What happened to you?!"

"I...I...I don't know what happened. I literally woke up, just a few seconds ago!" I sighed again. "I hope my friends are okay..."

Maria understood and thought of an idea. "How about I help you look for them? They're obviously somewhere in this dump, looking for you and if we don't manage to find them, I guess...we'll just have to leave."

Hearing this, my eyes instantly starting blazing with fire. "I'm not leaving without them, regardless of what happens."

My tone must have rang a warning bell to Maria, as she stepped back all of a sudden, taking her cupped hand away with her. "Look, I understand that you want look out for your friends, but we need to look out for ourselves too."

_No__, I always think of other people before myself, and it stays that way!_

As much as I wanted to disagree, I knew that she was right. Besides, Maria was an adult and I was a kid, so it's always the adult who's the leader. I didn't want to full-on lash out at her and start a fight because for starters, I hated arguing with someone.

Eventually, I calmed down and looked her in the eye. "Okay, but if anything horrible happens to my friends, I'm staying behind to help them."

Maria smiled at me, and I realised that I was returning the gesture. Maybe, just maybe...if she doesn't get murdered, she could wind up being a good friend too. After all, it was nice to know that there are some kind-hearted people in the world.

"My name is...Megan. Megan Ellis." I said, after a moment of comfortable silence. "You don't need to tell me who you are, as you already have..."

Hearing this, Maria chuckled. "I know Megan, I know..."

* * *

><p><em>(Several hours later...)<em>

After our meeting, we both stuck together and began the search through the Otherworld version of Brookhaven Hospital. So far, it wasn't particularly positive. A large number of doors on the second floor were either locked or shut tight, that irritated me a lot. But every time I tried to kick one down out of boiling frustration, Maria would just laugh with amusement and say: "This is what James used to do when he was frustrated."

She never told me anything else about him, and I didn't need to know. All I knew that he was just a crazy guy looking for his dead wife, confusing my new friend with her 24/7. Technically, that's all I wanted to know about him. Nothing else.

To my great relief, there weren't any other nurses around. I guessed that Manny and the Herd managed to take them out on their own. I was worried for their safety and well-being, as I wanted neither of them or Maria to suffer the same fate as...

_Shut up kid, it's time for you to move on. Don't think about your past failures..._

"Are you okay?" Maria asked me, with concern lacing her tone.

I just gave her a brave smile, despite wincing in pain due to my wounds that I strangely got whilst I was knocked out. "I'm fine, don't worry about me..."

Before we began our search, I quickly shoved the cupboard out of the ladder's way and climbed up with my friend in tow. Up in the loft, we claimed temporary ownership of a key to a strange door up on the third floor.

You must be thinking _"What happened to the Herd?"_ at the moment, but I'll get that a little later on. The door that I mentioned was strange indeed, I asked Maria if she knew anything about it. She looked like she did, but didn't say anything. I guess, maybe...something happened the last time she was here with James. Who knows?

"Why don't we take the elevator up?" My friend suggested. Her tone indicated that she didn't particularly want to go along with it, but I decided not to push for answers. "We may find your friends up there..."

I grinned. "Alright then."

_Although something deep down tells me that we won't..._

So we both went in, and I pressed the button for the third floor. It was a really (and I mean really) long elevator ride, every so often I attempted to strike up a conversation and Maria would respond positively, but most of the time we remained in silence.

Once the doors slid open, we both walked out and I instantly started to check the doors on the patient wing. Unfortunately, like last time, they were either locked or shut tight.

"ARGH!" I yelled in frustration. "Can one of these goddamn doors at least be OPEN?!"

My anger then turned to relief as I saw Maria standing at a rather large one at the end of the hallway. I ran to it and one by one, we entered. The atmosphere was rather icy in this room. The walls were coloured in a greyish white and standing in the very centre, was a simple fridge.

Which too was shut tight.

I grabbed it's handle and struggled to pull it up, grunting as I did so. That handle was so heavy! Knowing what to do, I turned to Maria and gave her a look as if to say: _"Please can you give me a hand here?"_

She grinned. "When I was here with James, I teased him about being the big man who needed a little girl like me to help."

"You gonna do the same thing with me?" I wanted to know, taking care not to show that I was still frustrated.

"With you? Of course not." Was the answer I got.

Maria then came over and grabbed the handle with both hands and together, we managed to get the fridge door open. To be honest, I half expected to see lots of first-aid kits and health drinks inside, but the only thing in there was a simple ring.

"Huh, not very cute is it?" My friend said, as she picked it up from the cold fridge, handing it to me after a brief moment. "Here, you can have it."

Despite not liking the look of the ring, I took it anyways. "Hm, thanks a lot."

_As soon as I get back to my apartment, I'm dumping this somewhere..._

Without hesitation, we left the room. The plan was simple; unlock the strange door, escape the hospital and find Manny and his family. We didn't manage to find them in the hallways so... I guessed that they probably went on, leaving me behind.

Once we reached the door, I couldn't help but take a good look at it. It showed a large drawing of a woman whose hand was 3D and sticking out. Maybe that's what the ring's purpose was. I slid the ring on and used the key to unlock the door. A clicking sound irrupted, indicating that it was now open.

_Freeeeeedom! Yes!_

I quickly reloaded my weapons, just in case if anything horrible happens. We had a bit of a long staircase to descend and Maria was shuddering as if she remembered something. Again, I didn't push her as I could tell that she did not want to talk about it.

As we descended further, something deep down told me that we were below the hospital's basement and a negative feeling began to arise in my stomach, telling me that someone was probably following us.

We soon reached a simple grey door at the very end, signalling that we were close to the exit. I gently placed my hand on the doorknob and after a moment of hesitation, turned it. The sight that greeted us was a REALLY long hallway weaving and turning corners here and there. Dried blood splattered the walls, giving us a sense of horror.

"Let's just get out of here..." Maria said, feeling just as frightened as I was.

"Okay..." I answered, gripping my pistol tightly.

The next few minutes were absolutely terrifying. As soon as we turned round the first corner, I heard a familiar laugh and turned round to find myself face to face with the man in the blue coat. He wasn't alone though, as an enormous masculine monster stood in front of him, draped in brown and wearing a huge pyramid on his head.

_In fact, his name was...Pyramid Head._

"MARIA, RUN!" I screamed, firing a couple of bullets whilst she took off. The man laughed again as I sprinted off after my endangered friend.

_No, no, no, no, no, F*CK NO!_

I eventually managed to catch up with her and ended up in the lead, as we ran for our lives. Unfortunately, Pyramid Head was in hot pursuit and damn, he moved fast!

"Maria, we gotta move!" I screamed again, firing more bullets at the monster. We then ran and didn't look back, weaving and turning around corners until...

An elevator came into view...

"Hey, we're almost out! We're gonna make it!" I shouted reassuringly, hopefully managing to calm Maria down in some way.

Sprinting towards it, I had no idea that she was further behind, still running for her life. It was only when I reached the elevator that I found out. She was moaning in pain and agony, with tears streaming down her face. Pyramid Head and the man had caught up to her, whilst I desperately tried to keep the doors open, long enough.

"MEGAN!" She howled, knowing full well that she wasn't going to make it.

She did make it, but at the same time she didn't. It was too late. Her arm managed to get through the now closing doors as I tried to pry them open. Normally, they would have done so lightly, but it was different here. "C'MON, C'MON!"

In a flash, our attackers were right behind her and I heard the man's laugh echo all around us, this time he was cackling. I realised right there, that I was unable to save Maria, all I could do...was helplessly watch.

"MEGAN!"

I still tried doing what I was doing, losing most of my energy as I did so. I screamed out her name, cursed her murderers loudly and wrestled hard to keep the doors open. "NOOOOOO!"

The last thing I heard was Maria howling my name once more, before her hand turned to a bright white and fell lifeless. Looking down, I saw a drenched red spear coming through the gap. I screamed again as I watched her hand disappear, followed by her executioner's weapon.

Gasping for breath, I lost my balance and fell to the elevator floor with a hard thud. Fainted. My guilt was now more painful than ever. Not one, but two victims I failed to rescue. I struggled desperately to fight back the incoming tears which were threatening to spill. "Maria..., I...I'm so sorry..."

_I couldn't do anything to help... Manny and the Herd have run off somewhere..._

_Elise, what should I do...?_

_Should I keep going and fight... Or should I give up and..._

_I'm going to reunite with the Herd, and afterwards...I'm going to find my mother..._

_It's the only thing I have left to hope for..._


	15. Chapter 15: Alone in the Darkness

**Chapter 15: Alone in the Darkness**

Guilt.

That's what I was currently suffering from.

I failed to rescue two nice and kind ladies, Elise and Maria, from their tragic fates. My two desperate attempts to save their lives were foiled miserably, leaving me in a horrible state, begging for just a tiny chance to redeem myself.

_Well, at least I now know who their murderer is... _

Manny and the Herd had left me behind in the dark nightmarish Brookhaven Hospital, believing that I got brutally assaulted and died alone. If that's what they want to think, then fine. Even though I can take care of myself, I'm still going to find them and prove that I'm alright.

_A friend shouldn't be left behind anyways..._

Before I made up my mind, I actually considered giving up and staying right in the very spot I lay. People would see me as a depressed teenager, whose thoughts are filled with one thing; the failures to save those held most dear. And I would be left isolated like I always have. Yeah, that would have been a suitable ending for me.

_No. No. I'm not going to stop. I'm going to keep pushing forward..._

Slowly opening my eyes, I struggled with effort to pull myself up to my feet. I knew that I suddenly fainted after what occurred, due to a strong and startling sensation of shock and horror. Most girls in my position would have decided to remain tough and jaded right until the end, not letting a moment of vulnerability surface.

I was going to be one of them.

"Okay, I gotta get outta here..." I muttered to myself, as I exited the elevator.

Like the rest of the hospital, the lobby had changed. It was even more darker and the walls looked they were made out of cold grey tarp. Most of the doors, even the front one happened to be locked, leaving me trapped inside.

_There has to be a key somewhere, there has to be..._

At least I still had my trusty flashlight and radio in my possession. They certainly helped me, even in the most terrifying situations. I quickly flipped on the switch in order to see things better, and began looking around. Truth be told, I felt really terrified being alone here. It was like I was reliving my life all over again but without my family to guide me through it. The tears were still threatening to spill so the whole time, I kept mentally shouting and screaming in my head to not break down emotionally.

"Get it together..." I scolded myself. "Now is not the time..."

I decided to quickly nip into the ladies' bathroom to prepare for what was going to happen next. Placing the weapons on a nearby small shelf, I let myself fall back against the wall and wrapped my arms together, trying to calm my breathing. There were a couple of items stored in the same shelf I used; a map of the town, health drinks, first-aid kits and even an ampoule. On a mirror ledge next to me was a sightseeing brochure.

"Heh, let's see what this says..." I murmured as I grabbed the paper, taking a good look at it as I did so.

_"Welcome to Silent Hill!_

_Silent Hill, a quiet little lakeside resort town. We're happy to have you. Take some time out of your busy schedules to enjoy a nice, restful vacation here._

_Row after row of quaint houses, a gorgeous mountain landscape, and a lake which shows different sides of it's beauty with the passing of the day, from sunrise to late afternoons to sunset._

_Silent Hill will move you and fill you with a feeling of deep peace. I hope your time here will be pleasant and your memories will last forever._

_Editor: Roger Widmark."_

I am not going to lie, as soon as I read that, I immediately scrunched up the paper with my hands and threw it hard into the nearby bin. I used to believe what it said, but after seeing what happened here, my opinion changed from positive to negative.

"Pfft, what town were you visiting?" I scoffed.

Afterwards, I grabbed the map and health items, quickly storing them into my backpack along with my weapons. Just as I slipped my arms through the blue straps, I heard a slow loud creak. The first toilet door was open, and the sight that greeted me wasn't a particularly nice one. The water inside was completely dirty and mildly drenched in blood.

_Which...kinda makes me want to throw up._

Being a girl who liked to take risks and be surprising once in a while, I marched up to it to take a look inside in case if anything was in there. As a matter of fact, there was.

Only, I wasn't brave enough to reach in with my own hand.

I sighed. "There should be something here for me to use..."

Looking around, I noticed a rather long hanger located where my backpack was a few minutes ago. I quickly grabbed it and prepared myself for what I was about to do.

"I'm gonna regret this..." I shuddered. "So badly..."

Clenching my eyes shut, I fished the hanger into the toilet and lifted it back out in a matter of seconds, reopening my eyes soon afterwards. The item I got was the front key; the item I needed to bail out of this freaky hospital.

"Who would shove their hand down a toilet anyway?" I pondered, shaking my head. "If they're gonna do it, then they should use a hanger or something..."

_They should do it the sensible way..._

With nothing else left to do, I opened the bathroom door and found myself back in the first floor hallway.

But strangely, I felt like I wasn't alone.

I suspected that someone had just arrived in pursuit of me. Wanting to take me away and keep me from finding my mother. Not letting me complete my quest.

Shaking the thoughts away, I clutched my pistol tightly and made my way to the exit. Unfortunately, it was now nighttime outside, meaning that the streets were pitch black.

With a deep breath, I unlocked the door, turned the knob and took the first step out into the darkness. "Alright..."

_Manny, you and the Herd can't be that far away..._

* * *

><p><strong>QAN: Hey guys, sorry that this one's short, I'm a little busy right now with things...<strong>

**So yeah, I decided to throw in a bunch of references to previous Silent Hill games. For those who played SH2, you'll know who would shove their hand in a dirty toilet... *snickers* At least Megan does it the sensible way...**

**In the next chapter, we'll be taking a break from our protagonist's journey to see what the Sub Zero Heroes have been up to. And we'll meet another character... Sounds pretty cool!**

**Anyways, feel free to leave a review and hope y'all are enjoying this so far!**


	16. Chapter 16: Lakeside Amusement Park

**Chapter 16: Lakeside Amusement Park**

_(Meanwhile, out on the streets of Silent Hill...)_

**M-M**

She's gone.

Ever since the transition into the Otherworld, we searched all across the hospital for the kid. But she was nowhere to be seen.

I immediately assumed that she died, but everyone disagreed, not wanting to accept it.

"W_hat if Megan's not dead?! What if she's still alive?!_" Both Peaches and Louis pointed out, feeling painfully guilty.

"_Buddy, the poor kid's probably lost and frightened, looking for us..._" Diego murmured, trying to comfort Shira who also didn't want to believe that the kid had died.

"_Manny, if we see Megan, we're going to apologise for what we did. We shouldn't leave a friend behind, ever._" Ellie said, giving me a look of regret and sadness.

Despite wanting so badly to agree with my family, we had to press on. Even if it meant...not seeing the kid again.

So far, our trip was not particularly exciting; we remained in an uncomfortable silence, none of us saying a word. I understood why and even though I may not reveal it, deep down, I hated myself for what we did.

_And I know at some point, I'm going to have to come out of my cold shell..._

We continued walking down Nathan Avenue, fighting off the occasional monsters that decided to show up. Since this was our first visit to the town, we had no idea what kinds of locations there were.

Luckily, the billboards that stood on the side of the streets provided us with some information; Lake View Hotel and Lakeside Amusement Park. Old Silent Hill was also on that list with Midwich Elementary School and Balkan Church.

It was a bit of a trek, but we had to visit just one.

"Let's go to the amusement park." I suggested to everyone else. "We might find something useful there."

"What about the hotel?" Buck put in, gesturing in a wild manner in an effort to prove his point. "That place is massive, we could pretty much find everything in there!"

"I know what you mean Buck, it's just that..." I trailed off, trying to think of the right words. As much as I wanted to get out of this nightmare with my family, I couldn't help but feel like something (or someone) was going to keep us here.

For eternity.

After a moment of silence, I sighed heavily. "Let's keep moving."

"Alright then, whatever..." Peaches muttered quietly so that I couldn't hear, but loud enough.

With that, we continued on.

Suddenly, a group of lying figures came trudging slowly towards us in a threatening manner. Even though I couldn't see very well (due to the darkness), I was able to count at least six or seven of them. Ellie, Crash, Eddie and Flynn immediately stepped back to avoid getting in the way of our attacks whilst the rest of us prepared ourselves.

One lying figure made the first move by leaning back slightly, letting a harmful gas spray out and hit me. I clutched my head in pain and groaned whilst Diego quickly pounced on it with a mighty roar and finished it off. Recovering a few seconds later, I lunged at two other lying figures and whacked them hard with my trunk, damaging them severely. Peaches did the same thing with another one, assisted by Louis and Shira who both went to great lengths to defend her.

Buck let out his cowboy cry and repeatedly stabbed it's friend, killing it instantly. Sid and Granny were brutally hitting the following ones with their weapons, struggling with effort as they did so. Just as we were about to finish off the last one, a gunshot rang out and our target fell with a distorted squeal, eventually slowing down it's movement as it's life faded away.

I gasped for breath as did the rest of us. My wife quickly came out of her hiding spot, followed by the possums and Flynn with worried expressions clearly written on their faces. Ellie immediately ran up to me and nuzzled me tightly, entwining her trunk with mine. "Manny, are you okay...?"

I smiled and nuzzled her back, also wrapping my trunk around hers. "I'm alright Ellie, don't worry..."

She also smiled with relief and after a few moments, we both pulled away. Just as we were about to continue on to the amusement park, a commanding feminine voice rang out, making us stop in our tracks:

"_Freeze!_"

**M-P**

"Don't move."

I looked around in all directions to see who the female voice belonged to but thanks to the darkness, I couldn't. Louis buried his face into the warmth of my fur in fright, trying to calm his breathing. I reached up with my trunk and gently stroked his fur, whispering words of comfort as I did so. "It's gonna be alright Louis, I promise..."

"Show yourself!" Dad shouted, standing protectively in front of us like he did back at home when Megan first showed up. "Who are you?!"

Eventually, the owner of the voice revealed herself. She had bright blond hair similar to Maria's, but without the pink tips at the edges. Her outfit consisted of a short-sleeved turquoise top with several badges including a gold one, tight black leather pants and a pair of shiny black boots. To add the final touch, she wore short gloves in the same colour and in her hands, was a pistol.

Aimed directly at us.

_Who is this lady?!_

"My name is Cybil Bennett." The woman replied, keeping her tight grip on her gun. "You animals shouldn't be existing in our time."

"Well, what year are we in?" Dad demanded, obviously worried that she would pull the trigger and shoot us. "And we're trying to get out of this town anyway, so we don't want any trouble..."

Hearing this, the woman lowered her pistol and stared at us for a second, taking the information in. "You're in the year 2015."

_SERIOUSLY?!_

There was a small moment of silence, before she spoke up. "I don't suppose you've seen a sixteen year old girl around here, have you? Her name is Megan Ellis and I've been sent by her father to find her and her mother."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa... You've been what?" I asked, with confusion lacing my tone.

As soon as those words left my mouth, Cybil sighed. "Mr Ellis told me that he was allowed to return home from work early to surprise his wife and daughter. But once he entered their apartment, they were nowhere to be seen." There was a slight pause before she continued on. "So, he called me up on the phone and asked me if I could search for them."

_This is getting weird..._

"Wouldn't this Mr Ellis guy go out and find them himself?" Uncle Sid put in.

Most of us all nodded in agreement, hearing this.

"Surly, he would search for his family too." Uncle Diego added.

Cybil quickly slipped her weapon into her pocket as she took her time to respond to our questions. "Mr Ellis is looking for his wife and daughter too. I believe...he's going the Wish House Orphanage which is not far from here."

_Sounds good to me... We probably might head there soon..._

"The last time I saw Megan was at Brookhaven Hospital. I don't know where she is now, but that was where we last saw her." I decided to reveal.

As much as I wanted to head back there to find Megan myself, I hoped that the information I gave would help Cybil in her search.

She smiled appreciatively and nodded. "Thank you. Where are you guys planning to go now?"

"Lakeside Amusement Park." I answered, smiling back at her.

_Well at least we're on her good side now..._

"You guys do best to stay nearby. After I'm done at Brookhaven Hospital, I'll come back with help as quick as I can." Our new friend said, after a moment of silence.

Soon after Cybil left to continue her search for Megan, Dad instantly turned round to face us with a determined expression written on his face. "Okay... You all ready to continue on?"

"Yep, we are..." Was our response.

Truth be told, we all wanted to follow Cybil back to Brookhaven Hospital, but we knew that we had to press on and get out of this crazy place. Either way, I knew that Megan would come back, probably severely injured or perfectly alright. That particular thought was on my mind for the rest of the journey, even when the bright lights of the front sign came into view, indicating that we were close to our destination.

_Megan, I hope you'll be able to make it... We're all sorry for leaving you behind..._

* * *

><p><strong>QAN: So yeah, that's the next character... For those who don't know, Cybil's the police officer from the first Silent Hill game, meaning that she survived the nightmare with Harry Mason...<strong>

**In the next chapter, we'll be heading back to Megan as she travels through the amusement park. There's also going to be a bit of a fight scene on a certain attraction and afterwards, we'll be going into the next world! **

**Yup, we're getting close to the half-way point in this fanfic and things are going to get crazy... Be prepared!**

**Again, feel free to leave a review and hope y'all are enjoying this so far!**


	17. Chapter 17: Killed by Death

**Chapter 17: Killed by Death**

_(A few hours later...)_

**P-M**

I ran.

During the long and tiring trip from Brookhaven Hospital, all I did was run. Avoiding the monsters and locations, I just ran straight across Nathan Avenue. But I did end up colliding into a police woman who happened to be looking for me. What was her name again...? Oh yeah, Cybil Bennett. As soon as she saw me, I was stopped in my tracks and she went to take hold of my arm. But I wrenched it free, mainly out of fear.

_I didn't know who she was, anyway..._

"Are you Megan Ellis?" She asked me, stepping towards me in a slow and cautious manner.

"Yes..." I managed to answer. "Who are you and what do you want?!"

The answer I got was quite shocking. "Your father called me and asked me to find you."

_I mean, seriously. __I thought Dad was working!_

My tone was icy and razor-sharp, sending a warning to Cybil as she stepped back feeling alarmed. To be honest, I wasn't convinced at all because I believed that Dad's work deadline was a couple of weeks from now and he always knuckles down and gets on with he's supposed to do. "There's no way that my father's back, no way."

"Mr Ellis was allowed to come home early to surprise you and Mrs Ellis, but the two of you were nowhere to be found. But he did see this hole in your room..." The police woman began explaining to me.

_Whaaaaaaat!? Dad's found the hole too...?_

"So my dad's here now. Where is he?" I wanted to know, still keeping my distance in case Cybil wanted to arrest me. One of the reasons why I'm not a huge fan of the police was that even though I do respect them, they can sometimes be rather annoying as they follow you everywhere if they think you've committed a crime. Back when I was about...nine or ten years old, one of my uncles got pulled over by a police officer for something that he didn't do and after a while, they let him go. But before that, they were really intent on going for him in hot pursuit.

"He's now at the Wish House Orphanage, which is not far from here." Was the answer that I was looking for.

With a nod as to say "Thanks", I quickly took off again.

Right now, I had a rag-tag team of prehistoric animals I needed to search for.

There were the threat of monsters roaming the streets, which I happened to not be too worried about. After all, it was a wide space, not like in my apartment complex or the hospital I've just been to. Speaking of, I began to wonder how Sonic was doing back home. He was either getting ready for his party or having the time of his life with Tails and all the other guests. My mind drifted to the previous worlds that I visited and what the next ones were going to be; one of them could be my school or another one could be the South Ashfield Heights apartments. I still didn't believe in the rumours about that place, but...who knows where my friends and I might end up after this?

Soon, the luminous lights that read '_Lakeside Amusement Park_' came into view, sending a spark of excitement flooding through me.

"Well, this is the place." I murmured as I reached the metal entrance. "The Herd must be inside already."

Even though I had a feeling that my trip wasn't going to end well, I walked in anyways. The fog was still as thick as it was on the streets, almost like an icy cruel winter had set in. I shivered as I wrapped my arms around my body, trying my best not to let out a gasp. All around me were black metal cages with disturbing sights inside, along with bloodied costumes of Robbie the Rabbit who happened to be the mascot.

_Which reminds me ... I need to get changed and wash my hands when I get home!_

Smacking my forehead in annoyance, I kept going until I found myself facing a huge dirty door, beckoning me into the nightmare due to it's appearance. "It's now or never..."

Taking a deep breath, I turned the knob and went in. Ready for whatever kind of hell was waiting for me.

Just as I entered the dark building, a pair of razor-sharp jaws immediately latched themselves on my leg in a flash. I screamed as I desperately tried to fight the sniffer dog off by kicking it with my other free leg. As soon as it let go, I grabbed my pistol and fired five or six bullets in an effort to defend myself. Eventually my attacker fell lifeless, showing its' wounds. I didn't have time to inspect my now severely injured leg because two closers and a small group of double heads were now advancing towards me, deciding that I was their most wanted target.

_Y'know what? Screw it..._

Groaning in agony, I aimed my pistol at the closers and fired. I swore that I was low on bullets by the time they fell down. But there were still the blasted dogs out to get me. With a grunt of frustration, I clutched my injured leg and ran. Even though it looked like I was hobbling in an idiotic way. I sprinted past a row of stores which I presumed were locked, and managed to make it into the next room. Unfortunately, there were more lying figures and air screamers waiting for me. Not forgetting another group of sniffer dogs snarling and baring their fangs.

"Oh, f*ck off!" I shouted at them.

It was a really bad idea to stay and fight the monsters, because due to the state of my wounds and if I did, I would die right here. So I kept going until I found myself ascending a long staircase which led up to the Mountain Coaster. Without hesitating, I pulled the fence open and entered the tracks. A warning bell was ringing in my head, telling me that the outcome of going through here was negative. Despite wanting to head back, I pushed forward and found myself becoming alert as a low hum of an engine began erupting in the direction I was walking in.

_No..._

Soon, the bright lights of a small rollercoaster car came into view followed by the vehicle. My panting became quick as I looked around to find a solution. The only one was to jump off the tracks, and potentially wind up dead. After several seconds of hesitation, I clenched my eyes shut and let myself fall off, narrowly avoiding the car.

The only thoughts I had as I fell down were getting out of the nightmare with my mother, father and the Herd alive...

_Or dying and never getting the chance to see them again..._

**M-S**

Exploring.

That's all we did, ever since we arrived.

During our trip through the park, all Diego and I could think about was Megan and how we left her behind. She was only a kid who was looking for her mother, not a threat like Manny thought of her as. Even though we didn't get that many chances to talk to her, our young friend seemed kind and willing to assist if there was a problem.

_Which is what we all like in a friend..._

"Are you okay Shira?" My husband asked me, with concern lacing his tone.

I turned to look at him with a brave smile. "I'm not feeling 100%, but I'm alright regardless..."

As we walked through the attraction areas, we chatted in different groups about what was going to occur after we eventually leave. Although most likely, we would end up back home like our adventure here never happened.

_But I won't forget it... Ever..._

"We'll find her, don't worry." Diego soothed, nuzzling me in an attempt to calm me down. "Megan's a brave kid, she can handle her own just fine. I've seen her take down those lying figures in one shot, so that's my evidence."

Hearing this, I couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah, you might be right..."

**S-C**

My trip through Brookhaven Hospital was really tough after my run-in with Megan. She seemed friendly, just a little scared and frightened of the horrific curse that Silent Hill held over her and her friends.

I arrived at the amusement park a few hours later and decided to head to a certain attraction I wasn't particularly a huge fan of. The Happy Carousel, or should I say, unhappy carousel. The last time I was on that ride, I suddenly became possessed by an evil spirit and tried to fight my friend Harry Mason, may he rest in peace.

I didn't know how the evil spirit possessed me, but I do know that Harry managed to save my life after a painful struggle.

As I stood outside the attraction, hundreds of warning bells were ringing loudly in my head almost like...they were telling me not to go on.

"Just ignore it Cybil," I told myself, taking a deep breath. "Just do it and see what happens."

Soon after another moment of hesitation, I opened the cold metal gate and stepped on the brown wooden floor that belonged to the carousel. Looking around, I could already hear soft footsteps slowly echoing, indicating that I wasn't alone.

"Who's there?!" I demanded, raising my gun. "Come out!"

No answer. Maybe, I was just being paranoid. The sudden slow creak of the gate didn't help ease my mind. Panting, I whirled round to find myself face to face with—

_Walter Sullivan..._

I recognised him instantly, due to his long dirty-blind hair and bloodied dark coat. It was impossible, he died years ago! How is he still here, perfectly alive and well?!

A scream was begging to force its' way out of my throat, but nothing came. We both stared at each other in complete silence, not saying a word. I didn't know if I was supposed to make the first move or if he was. Suddenly, the carousel decided to start moving, with the happy tune indicating as its' signal. I backed away, aiming my pistol at my assailant as he advanced towards me with a menacing smirk.

"No..." I shuddered. "No, don't..."

Memories of my fight with Harry immediately flashed repeatedly in my head as I let my body take over. I fired four bullets into Walter, almost missing every time. As soon as one bullet hit him, he stumbled back slightly, wincing in pain. But he wasn't going to let that stop him. With a laugh that could send you into hysterics, Walter lunged towards me with his knife, aiming for my neck. I dodged him by taking a huge step back and fired again, panicking and breathing heavily.

"You're mine, now." Walter said, grinning as he knew he had me right where he wanted me. "No one can save you, not even your deceased friend."

I shook my head in disbelief. I wasn't going to let him kill me, especially after all of those 21 murders and the Princess of Soleanna. Due to the case and her recent death, I suspected that Walter was behind all of it. Even if he himself was no more.

_So, the person I'm fighting now is a... Is a... Victim Ghost?!_

Just as I was about to fire again, the unexpected happened. Walter tackled and pinned me to the ground, blowing my chance of firing away. My fist connected with his jaw brutally as I desperately tried to defend myself. He grabbed both my wrists tightly and forced them back to the ground, making me scream in agony.

Walter laughed again, leaning down in a slow manner to whisper something in my ear: "Now it is time for you to leave this world forever."

Realising that there was no way that I was going to make it, I shut my eyes and braced myself for the blow that would send me into the darkness of death.

Not knowing that someone had saw what was happening and entered the attraction to save my life.

_Go ahead..._

**C-M**

"OH NO, YOU DON'T!" I screamed with boiling rage, as I lunged towards the man with the coat.

Just as I entered, I unfortunately saw him deliver four or five brutal blows to Cybil's upper body, giving me the impression that she was the next victim.

I tackled him to the ground and repeatedly connected my fists with his forehead and face, grunting and shouting in effort. The result was him eventually shoving me off, turning round to leave the area.

Pulling myself back up, I managed to catch my breath as I ran to check on the police woman. She was moaning in agony and struggling to breathe as the realisation that she was succumbing to her wounds dawned on her. "I'm sorry, Cybil. I should of come sooner!"

"It's okay, I suspected that this was going to happen to me anyway." She replied, wincing as she gave me a reassuring smile which I returned.

"I-I-I-I'll call an ambulance!" I quickly stammered, panicking as I looked around for a nearby telephone. "Where the hell is that blasted phone?!" I shouted more to myself than her.

"Wait. I don't think they're going to make it, if you call them." Cybil breathed, latching her hand on mine. "Don't worry though, I'll say Hi to Elise for you."

_No, not you..._

Elise, Maria and now Cybil. Not one, not two but three. Why couldn't life let me save at least just one victim?! WHY?!

All I could do was watch the police woman fall lifeless as she passed away. After a moment of silence, I gently closed Cybil's eyes and pulled myself up to my feet. The metal gate suddenly opened and a slender warm trunk wrapped round my waist, tightening it's grip. I turned round to realise that every member of the Herd had entered the carousel, relieved to see that I was alive.

"Guys..." I murmured, still shaken by what had just occurred. "W-Wh-Why did you leave me behind...?"

"Megan, we are all so sorry!" Peaches cried, her voice cracking as she tightened her grip even more. "We thought you were dead!"

Manny and Ellie stepped forward, along with Sid, Diego, Shira and the others. Judging by the looks on their faces, they were relieved to see me as well.

"We're really sorry that we left you, sweetie." Ellie apologised, smiling at me.

"Yeah, we all are." Manny put in.

Even though I was emotionally shocked by everything that happened since I found the hole, I gave my friends an acknowledging small grin. "It's all good. We're cool."

_At least I'm with the Herd again... _

_I guess it's now time for me to head back home and venture into the next world..._

_And hopefully, I'll manage to save the next victim..._


	18. Chapter 18: Healing

**Chapter 18: Healing**

_(Flashback)_

**M-S**

_It was another tough day at work for me, due to my boss screaming furiously at people who he thought did something wrong. I luckily wasn't one of these people and I hated the idea 24/7._

_But hey, there's always going home to look forward to._

_I suspected that my husband was still at his workplace, just finishing up as well. He wasn't particularly a fan of his job and neither was I with my one. As I exited the building into the streets, I instantly took my phone out of my bag and dialled for a method of transport._

_"Hi there, can I have a taxi please?" I asked the woman on the other end, smiling as one of my loved ones entered my thoughts. "It's going to North Ashfield Primary."_

_The woman then asked for my name which I told her, and she eventually said that it was on its' way. I quickly thanked her and hung up, still thinking of my loved one._

_It took about...five or ten minutes for my vehicle to arrive and soon we were moving. The driver seemed really nice; blond and slightly pale with sapphire blue eyes. He was in his mid-twenties and just like me, he was also looking forward to going home._

_"So, you got a kid?"_

_"Yes, I do. A girl." I answered, positively._

_"That's cool, how old is she?"_

_"She'll be turning eight next month."_

_"Seems nice, I bet you're looking forward to seeing her then."_

_"I am, definitely." I replied, smiling at the thought._

_Eventually, we reached the school and already kids were pilling out, excited to see their families. I got out of the car, thanking the driver as I did so. "Thanks a lot._

_"No problem!"_

_My eyes scanned along the crowds of happy children and spotted one that I really wanted to see; She looked so adorable in her white shirt, jeans and trainers, along with her short light brown hair. Whenever she's with me or my husband, she's so happy and cheerful all the time, it's only if she's with other children or by herself that she becomes a shadow of her former self; frustrated, isolated and put down. _

_Once I heard what was happening at her school, I swore that I would do everything in my power that make sure that she's okay._

_And this little girl is my daughter, Megan._

_Her emerald green eyes landed on mine and a huge grin creased her cheeks. "Hi mommy!"_

_"Hey you!" I shouted back enthusiastically, crouching down to her level as she ran up to me. "How are you?"_

_Megan took her time to respond as I could see from the look on her face, she was really pleased to see me. "I'm feeling a lot better now that you're here."_

_Hearing this, my smile faded slightly. "Oh, did something happen sweetheart?"_

_"It was just the same things that happen all the time really; I get ignored and spend most of my time alone." My daughter answered. Her tone suggested that her desire to be noticed by someone different was slowly growing, and I couldn't argue against her. I gripped her shoulders tightly and looked her in the eye, wanting nothing more than to make Megan happy. _

_"Someone will notice you one day, I'm sure of it. But now, we gotta keep trying and get the kids to understand you. But when the time comes, the right person walk up to you, tap you on the shoulder and say Hello. It will happen soon, just be patient." _

_I was expecting a negative response, but instead my daughter's infectious smile creased her cheeks as she nodded. "Okay, I'll try."_

_There was a moment of comfortable silence, before a brilliant idea came into my mind. "Now what do you say we head home and play a little bit of your favourite game franchise?"_

_As soon as those words left my mouth, Megan's face lit up with an excited grin due to the mention of a certain blue hedgehog. "I'd like that a lot!"_

* * *

><p><em>(Reality)<em>

**S-M**

My guilt was now even more painful; I failed to save three victims whom I witnessed die at the hands of some insane monster. My trip through the town of Silent Hill was a memory that I desperately wanted to forget.

As I pulled myself up, a scream of agony overtook me as I realised that my leg was still severely wounded, so bad that it needed stitching.

If there wasn't anyone else around to help, then I had to bite the bullet and do it myself. My mother used to train in first-aid classes at college and taught me how to stitch a injury when I was fourteen. So at least, I had some experience.

_But not to stitch up my own wounds..._

I quickly grabbed some tissues, a small jug of water and set of needles and thread, sitting down on the floor. I shuddered at the idea of doing this, but it had to be done. Lifting up my bloodied jean leg, I grimaced and struggled to hold back any incoming vomit as I gazed at my wound. Due to the dark scarlet multiple bite marks on my pale skin, I could tell that the sniffer dog's teeth had sunk deep thus leaving me in this horrific state.

"Okay," I whispered to myself. "The sooner you do it, the better..."

After pouring a small amount of water on my injury, I grabbed the needle and thread. Breathing heavily, I clenched my eyes shut tight and began the dreadful process. I screamed in pain and agony, as I fought hard not to slam my head into the living room table. "Just keep going Megan, just keep going!"

Soon, I managed to stitch my leg back together. The fortunate thing was that it was over, but that meant that my living room floor was now mildly stained in dark red. I gasped in relief and applied pressure to my wound with a tissue. "Thank god..."

_Hopefully I won't have to do that again..._

I spent the next couple of minutes trying to calm my breathing and to keep my mind of the horrors that the Herd and I have been through. I attempted to clean up the blood stains and managed to make some progress, but unfortunately they were still there, but slowly fading away. "Alright..."

Looking around, I remembered that there were two other things I needed to do. I quickly put the items back and ran over to the kitchen to wash my hands. Afterwards, I ran into my bedroom to get changed. My new outfit consisted of a simple white t-shirt with a striped jacket with different shades of blue on the top and bottom with a bright white in the middle. I then stripped out of my jeans to put on a lighter pair, discarding my favourite outfit into the wash basket I kept in my own bathroom.

"Okay, well that's sorted out." I murmured to myself. "Now let's go and see what's up with Sonic."

Re-entering the living room, I walked over to the small hole and knelt down to look inside. The sight I was greeted with was rather pleasant.

"Oh, when the saints! Go marching in! Hey, hey, hey!"

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Shadow were all dressed in their party outfits and I gotta say, damn! They looked smart!

Amy was dressed in a floral pink dress coming down to the knees, whilst the boys were dressed in suits draped in their signature colours.

Team Heroes sat on the bed, laughing in amusement at Amy's excited singing and Shadow was smiling too, crossing his arms deep in thought. I couldn't help but let out a giggle at what was happening. "This is so cool..."

"I'm a crazy pizza man, who juggles and sings!" The pink hedgehog continued singing happily. Seems everyone's looking forward to their celebration, good for them.

"Calm down Amy," Sonic said, grinning. "We're excited too."

"Well of course I am. It's time for us to party!" Amy chirped, smiling at her friends.

"Oh," Knuckles spoke up. "I think we're almost set. You ready Shadow?"

"Yes, indeed." The ultimate life-form replied.

"We'll see you down in the lobby, Sonic. You gonna be okay up here?" Tails asked, pulling himself up with Knuckles, Amy and Shadow in tow.

Sonic just simply threw a wide grin and his signature thumbs-up. "Yeah, don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

_I'm sure you will..._

The four then exited the room, leaving Sonic to have some last minute thoughts. Just as I was about to leave, an unexpected event occurred. My idol was now looking in my direction and leaning forward slightly.

"Whaaaaat?!" Was the only word that come out of my mouth.

Shaking my head a couple of times, I kept my eyes locked onto his. Maybe...this can be my chance...

I can finally strike up a conversation with someone I hold close to my heart...

Unaware that I was now trembling in excitement and nervousness, I balled my hands into fists as Sonic slowly got up and took a step forward. "Is someone there?"

_Don't waste this, Megan. This is the only chance you're going to get!_

"Um, um,..." I stammered. "H-Hi, um..., I'm Megan and I'm a huge fan of yours..."

Panting, I braced myself for the moment that I waited so long for. But unfortunately, the blue hedgehog stopped and shook his head in disbelief. "No, there's no one there."

"W-What? I'm right here mate!" I cried out, waving both my arms hysterically. "See me?!"

No answer. Sonic sighed and decided to leave the room in preparation for his party. I smacked my forehead in annoyance, having blown yet another chance to talk to my idol.

"Alright..." I muttered, trying to calm myself down. "We can try again..."

Pulling myself up to my feet, I grabbed my pistol and some extra bullets for it. Walking into the bedroom, I gazed at the hole with hesitation. This time, it looked different strangely. It was now round with a clear halo of the sun pattern and four placards labelled with different words; Temptation, Source, Watchfulness and Chaos.

I frowned in thought, snapping out of my dream-like state. Taking a deep breath, I lifted myself up and crawled my way in.

_Where will the hole lead to this time...?_

_Truth be told, I have a horrible feeling that I know who the next victim is..._

_Regardless of where I end up, I'm going to do everything in my power to prevent the next murder..._

_And hopefully, I'll manage to get a good result..._

* * *

><p><strong>QAN: Hey guys, sorry that this one is short... :(<strong>

**But anyways, judging by Megan's thoughts, you can kinda guess what's going to happen in the next few chapters. *shudders* **

**Hopefully she'll manage to rescue whoever she thinks the next victim will be and discover more about what's going on in the nightmare worlds...**

**Feel free to leave a review and hope y'all are enjoying this so far!**

**P.S: By the way, have y'all seen the first two episodes of Sonic Boom yet? That show is so damn awesome!**


	19. Chapter 19: Silver Lake Apartments

**Chapter 19: Silver Lake Apartments**

When I came to, I discovered that I was lying face-down on strong metal grating. I opened my eyes and pulled myself up to my feet, taking in my surroundings. Turns out, I was standing in a really dark hallway with the ceiling lights flickering.

_Thank god I have my flashlight..._

Unfortunately, there was someone else in the hallway. Someone that I didn't want to see. The man in the coat who happening to be knocking on a familiar door:

**'Room 303'**

_Sonic's room...? Dude, don't you dare go in there..._

I was prepared to march up and prevent the man from heading in, but all he did was turn and disappear round the corner. Clutching my weapons tightly, I racked my brains for a suitable plan of attack. I could find the Herd, explain to Sonic's friends what was happening and enter Room 303 to protect my idol.

_If he happens to be the next victim..._

I hated the thought of the man targeting Sonic with a burning passion, so much that I was willing to let him go after me in order to protect my idol. Yes guys, I'm thinking about the fastest thing alive when I'm supposed to be thinking about my mother. When I have thought about her 24/7 and still am.

"Wow so, I guess I'm here in my apartment..." I murmured. "What kind of sh*t have I gotten myself into?"

**M-S**

_Knock..._

_Knock..._

_Knock..._

"Huh?" I murmured, as I gazed at my front door. I didn't know who would want to see me at such an early hour, so I investigated. At first, I thought it was Shadow or even Eggman. Speaking of, I haven't seen him in almost several years now, since my last adventure when Tails and I saved the Lost Hex.

_I wonder what's up with Baldy McNose Hair now..._

As I threw open my door, I saw that no one was there. I was probably just hearing things.

Way to go, Sonic.

"Just stop, man." I scolded myself as I closed it. "It's not like you're caught up in a nightmare or anything."

I decided to take a seat on my sofa to think about my apartment and the neighbours. They seemed really friendly and kind, knowing not to bother me too much whenever I was busy. Although, I never got the chance to meet the occupants of Room 302 and get to know them. All I knew was that they were a family of three; a father, mother and daughter. Come to think of it, I always liked talking to older kids since they're mature, kind and will do what the adult tells them.

_Heh, maybe I should meet up with the daughter sometime..._

That sounded like a brilliant idea. After the party's over, I could head over to Room 302 to get to know her. I'm gonna do it, who knows? Maybe she's a fan...?

A small smile creased my cheeks as I continued pondering. I adored my fans with a passion; they greet me with huge grins which I return and treat me like a normal person. I knew that some would occasionally get excited and squeal, but still...

"Well, time for me to get going..." I muttered, pulling myself up to my feet.

I quickly picked up my keys and walked over to open my front door. Just as I placed my hand on the doorknob, a warning bell starting ringing in my head to indicate this was a bad idea. Looking back one last time at my living room, I shook my thoughts away and braced myself for whatever was waiting for me outside.

I turned the knob and the door slowly creaked open. Instead of the normal pleasant hallways I was used to, it was now incredibly dark, so dark that I couldn't see a thing. But I knew that someone was standing in front of me.

Someone who I didn't even want to think about. Who I dismissed as nonsense when I first arrived in Ashfield.

My panting increased in speed, as panic took control of my body. Standing in front of me was a creepy-looking man draped in a blood stained blue with long-dirty blond hair.

"Hello, Sonic."

He smirked with a menacing chuckle which told me what he was here for. I immediately slammed the door on him in a desperate attempt to kick him out. But he pushed against it, struggling in effort.

"No! NO!" I screamed in fright. "GET AWAY FROM ME DUDE!"

The only response was a cold laugh and the door being thrown open, sending me flying until I hit the floor. I pulled myself up to my feet and prepared myself for the fight.

_Bring it on, Walter..._

**S-M**

"So, what do we do?!" Sid asked me as we ran through the hostile dark hallways.

I eventually managed to meet up with the Herd in the lobby but unfortunately Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Shadow were nowhere to be seen. Perhaps, they were still in the real world, safe from the horrors that we were currently trapped in now.

"We look around for a little longer and head up to Room 303." I responded, trying so hard not to worry about Sonic. "We won't be here for too long."

"Is there someone you're worried about?" Peaches wanted to know, concern lacing her tone.

My breathing had become quick due to the only thought running through my head. I kept convincing myself that nothing was going to happen to Sonic and that he was going to be okay. But yet, I couldn't help but feel that the worst was going to occur up in that room.

"Yes." I responded, stopping to catch my breath. "I'd rather not talk about it though..."

Manny gave me a worried look. "Are you sure? You can tell us if you'd like."

After a brief moment of silence, I shook my head, panting. "I-I-I'll tell you guys later..."

"Okay..."

Becoming more and more overcome with panic, I decided to skip looking around and head straight up to Room 303. I felt like I had to be there instantly, so I told the Herd my plan and they agreed. As we ascended the staircases, I sprinted the whole way up, ignoring the shouts telling me to slow down.

_I can't..._

Eventually, I reached Sonic's room and already, I could hear my idol screaming and groaning in agony. I scrambled desperately to open the door, whispering Sonic's name repeatedly as my friends arrived to help me.

"We got your back kid, just get in there and save your friend alright?" Buck said, feeling just as concerned as I was.

I nodded as I finally unlocked the door. Throwing it open, I sprinted in with my friends in tow and froze at the dreadful sight before me.

_NO!_

The man turned round to face me, obviously pleased with the result he was getting. But what he didn't know was that there was still a chance for me to rescue Sonic and I was going to take it. Fear quickly transformed into anger as I gave out a scream of rage, lunging towards him.

How dare he?!

I wasn't going to let my guilt become more painful than ever. I wasn't going to let Sonic die and leave this world. Not like in Sonic 06. No!

_You f*cking son of a B*TCH!_

* * *

><p><strong>QAN: Okay, I'm just throwing this out there. I was so nervous about writing this chapter and still am about writing the next one... *panting worriedly* <strong>

**Sonic, you have to survive! You haven't met our heroes yet, so you have to live! Don't worry though, Megan and the Herd will save you!**

**Anyways, um, please don't get mad at me for what's going on... :-(**

**Feel free to leave a review and hope y'all are enjoying this so far... **


	20. Chapter 20: Losing Hope

**Chapter 20: Losing Hope**

The fight was _on_.

I was slowly starting to lose hope in myself, even as I was punching and kicking the man in the coat with all my might. I couldn't let Sonic die, not after the other three victims that I failed to save; Elise, Maria and Cybil.

_Especially that he's a huge part of my life... _

"Do you really think that you can stop me?!" The man sneered, dodging my every move and socking me in the stomach.

I let out a groan of pain and glowered dangerously at him. "That blue hedgehog is my idol! And I'm not going to let you kill him, ever!"

My friends had apparently heard my words and gathered around me in an attempt to help. Manny immediately swooped in and whacked Sonic's assailant hard with his trunk. "Stay away from the kid!"

"Her?" The man demanded, pointing at me. "Or him?" He then pointed a bony finger down at a bruised, injured and battered Sonic who was struggling so hard to breathe.

It tore my heart into pieces just looking at the state he was in. So much, that I just wanted to pull my idol into my arms and comfort him the best I could. I quickly wiped away any incoming tears and connected my fist with the man's jaw, sending him flying until he hit the floor.

"Both of them!" Manny answered, glaring at him.

Meanwhile, I grabbed the man by the collar and socked him in the stomach, like he did to me. Afterwards, I continued punching and kicking, delivering blows that did some severe damage, due to the man's moans of agony. "You! Stupid! Piece! OF SH*T!"

_I have to stop him, I have to!_

Suddenly, my efforts were cut short by the man forcefully grabbing my left wrist and pulling me towards him. I screamed in pain as he twisted it roughly with that menacing grin of his. He then did something that shocked all of us, he lifted an arm back and connected it with my stomach, sending me off my feet and flying until my back hit against the wall with a hard smack.

"_Megan!_" Peaches yelled in fright.

I was breathing heavily, struggling to get back up on my feet as Manny was joined by Diego and Shira in attacking the man. Unfortunately, their attempts were thwarted by the man sending them flying and landing next to me. I sprinted towards the man again, completely taken over by boiling rage and delievered a blow that forced him to fall to the ground. Just as I was about to connect my fist with his jaw, he grabbed my wrist again and kicked my legs, making me fall down.

_NO!_

The man laughed and wrapped his strong hands around my throat, cutting off my air supply. "Now, you can join your friends in hell."

"That's not happening buddy!" Manny shouted, whacking him with his trunk for the tenth time with a mighty grunt.

Our target chuckled coldly and took hold of a silver knife which glimmered in the sunlight coming from the living room windows. "Yes, it will."

I didn't have any time whatsoever to react as he plunged the weapon deep into my arm, forcing a loud blood-curling scream out of me. "_You mother—_"

The next couple of seconds were a complete shock. The man got beaten again by Manny, Diego, Shira and even Buck, making him drop his bloodied knife in the process. Just as the assailant was about to choke me to death again, he let out a horrified scream.

_Whaaaaat?!_

I looked over to my left and my eyes widened. My idol had just enough strength in him to grab the knife and plunge it deep into the man's shoe. We both stared at each other, not taking our eyes of one another. I was pleasantly surprised, so much that I let a small appreciative smile crease my cheeks. Thank you, Sonic.

He responded by weakly giving me his signature thumbs up and smiling back. All the man could do was leave in defeat and disgust.

Thinking quickly, my panting increased its' speed as I pulled myself up to my feet and immediately grabbed the phone. "C'mon... C'mon..."

I jabbed the number '999' and waited anxiously for the woman on the other end to pick up. She needed to fast, because we didn't have much time.

"_Hello, how can I help you?_"

"H-Hi. Um, I have an emergency here. M-M-My idol has just been attacked and he's in really bad shape, please please please! Can you send an ambulance?!" I begged, looking down at Sonic with crystal tears threatening to escape.

"_Of course I can. Where are you both?_"

"S-S-Silver Lake Apartments. Room 303. And it's on the third floor! Please hurry..." I replied, wiping my tears away. "He means a lot to me..."

"_Don't worry, it will arrive in five to ten minutes._"

"Thank you..."

After that, I hung up and instantly knelt down to Sonic's level. Manny and the Herd just stood a few feet back, watching the scene unfold. Peaches wanted to come forwards, but Ellie decided to hold her back for some reason. She mouthed: "Are you okay?"

_Why are you asking me if I'm okay?! WE HAVE SOMEONE IN PAIN HERE!_

I nodded and focused my attention on Sonic. I was silently praying to the gods that he was going to make it, he had to! His fans can't lose him, his friends can't lose him! I...I...I can't lose him...

"S-Sonic," I began. "An ambulance is on it's way, they're going to get you to the hospital and everything's going to be alright... You're going to make it, I promise..."

Memories of my childhood and time watching him started to flash repeatedly in my head. I saw a seven year old girl. Me. Laughing with amusement at Sonic's constant teasing towards Eggman. I saw her wrapping her arms around her blue hedgehog plush toy with a bright smile on her face and giggling at the 'Baldy McNose Hair' line.

"H-H-Hey kiddo," Sonic breathed, reaching out and entwining his gloved fingers with my bruised and battered ones. "Thanks..."

I clenched my eyes shut and reopened them to calm myself down. Don't even do it, don't even do it. Get right back in there tear! "You're welcome..."

"A-A-Are you...a-a fan?" My idol wanted to know, feeling moved by my concern for him.

Panting, I squeezed his hand in an attempt to comfort him. "Yes... I always have and I always will..."

Hearing this, Sonic smiled whist breathing heavily. "I-I-If you got time to worry, t-t-then run... T-T-This place... It's dangerous... You need to... Hurry... G-Get out of here..."

_No... I can't bear to see you like this..._

All we could do was watch as Sonic's eyes slowly drifted down as he passed out. My head fell into my hands whilst I struggled desperately to hold the tears back. Even though I knew that there was a small chance, my guilt was now at 100% painful. I was broken. Stuck in a nightmare and unable to rescue anyone who happened to be in danger.

Poor Sonic. He didn't deserve this. Elise, Maria and Cybil didn't deserve this. The only person I felt who did was me. Only me.

"Megan, we're so sorry." Diego said, feeling saddened. "At least you managed to save him."

Slowly lifting my head up, I nodded. "Yeah, you might be right..."

* * *

><p>I awoke to the sound of a loud ringing, signalling that something was wrong. Pulling myself up to my feet, I sprinted towards the window and looked out.<p>

"Oh, thank god..." I sighed with relief.

An ambulance was leaving the car park with Sonic inside, flashing it's red and white lights as it sped away through the crowds of traffic. I suspected that his friends heard what happened and were on their way to St. Jerome's Hospital.

"Okay, time for me to go..." I whispered as I reloaded my pistol and hunting rifle.

After sorting out my arm injury, I threw open my bedroom door, clutched my weapons tightly and lifted myself up.

I knew that if my idol was okay, the man would come after him, intent on finishing him off for good. "Alright, I'm coming to get you Sonic. If this guy wants a fight, I'll f*cking give him one."

With a strong sense of determination, I crawled in.

_Sonic, please be okay, long enough for us to find you..._


	21. Chapter 21: Connection

**Chapter 21: Connection**

Truth be told, I didn't know what was going to occur once I came to. But I did know, that someone I hold close to my heart was in great danger.

Even though he was safe back in the real world, Sonic was still trapped in the Otherworlds with me and the Herd. I decided that as soon as we found him, we were going to team up and aid each other when we needed it. We would find my mother, get out of the nightmare and maybe move someplace far away from Ashfield and carry on with our lives.

_Maybe we could move to the countryside in Brahms... They have a nice view of the mountains there..._

It was too early to be thinking those thoughts anyway, so I shook them off as my eyes fluttered open and took in my surroundings once again. This time, I was lying on my back and staring up at the industrial ceiling which had huge lights, kinda suitable for an operating theatre. I knew that I was in St. Jerome's Hospital just by looking at them. As I pulled myself up to my feet, I was already confronted by the sound of a man's heavy breathing. A shadow eventually revealed itself on a white curtain; leaning forward slightly and working hard on something.

_You... What the?!_

I tried so hard not to show my disgust as I saw the man in the coat, the same man whom I fought just hours ago, performing surgery on a dead woman. This was the type of thing that kids shouldn't have to see, especially those my age and younger. If I was my seven-year old self, I would have screamed like mad and out of there like a shot.

So I ran. Not making a sound. Not knowing that he had noticed me and was intent on following me in hot pursuit.

"Phew, at least I'm outta there." I muttered with relief.

Just as I was about to turn around, SMACK! I suddenly collided with someone hard which forced me to lose my balance and stumble back until I hit the wall. Blinking and shaking my head a couple of times, I struggled to get a good look at the person I bumped into. She did look familiar; almost like I've seen her not too long ago. Her blue-grey eyes widened with recognition as they locked with my emerald ones, yet I couldn't seem to recognise her. It was only when I saw the red hair, white dress, crown and orange high-heels I was bombarded by a series of memories flashing repeatedly.

_"Well, hello there. I haven't seen you around here before. What's your name?"_

_"Megan... And you?"_

_"You should at least have someone looking after you, making sure that you're safe."_

_"The only person looking after me right now, is you."_

Whaaaaat?! The last time I saw her was when she ran off, only to wind up killed. I was even more confused as to the fact that she sported no signs of her injuries, no bruises, no gashes and no blood. I was speechless. Why was she here, shouldn't she be in heaven?!

"E-E-Elise?" I whispered. My jaw had dropped to the ground again, just like back on the streets of Silent Hill when Manny complimented me for the first time.

The Princess of Soleanna was definitely here in this hell hole that was the Otherworld version of St. Jerome's Hospital. She looked exactly how she did when we first met; the only differences were that a bright light was faintly shining around her...

_And a ... spiritual link between us? _

"M-Megan?" Elise responded, letting a huge smile crease her cheeks.

I didn't know what was happening right now. At first, I thought I was seeing things but as I stared at her more, I began to realise... I wasn't going mad.

My deceased friend seemed to notice that I was slightly frightened and placed her two hands gently on my shoulders. "It's alright ... It's just me..."

"W-What ... What are you doing here...?" I wanted to know. "Aren't you... Aren't you—"

Elise sighed sadly as her smile faded. "Yes... I am. The reason why I'm here is that... I've kept watch over you all this time and I'm so sorry those events occurred. I shouldn't have left you..."

I frowned. "It's not you. It's me who should be sorry."

"What do you mean...? You didn't do anything wrong at all!" My friend pointed out.

Hearing this, I wanted to admit that I but at the same time, I felt that everyone should blame me for what happened. I mean...I failed to save three victims which nearly turned to four considering the events back in my apartment complex.

"Yes, I did. I failed to rescue you, Maria and Cybil. Sonic came so close to joining that list and you guys didn't deserve it. I do." I said, lowering my head as I fought back more memories of the deaths. "It would probably be easier for all of us if the man just killed me right here..."

As soon as those words left my mouth, I felt a gloved finger tilt my chin until I locked eyes with Elise who was giving me a soft sympathetic look. "Don't think that way... Sonic and those prehistoric animals would hate to see you like this... Your mother would too..."

_Oh..._

Upon hearing her mention my mother, my heart nearly jumped out of my chest. I focused too much on finding the Walter guy, that a new horrible thought entered my head: What if... What if my mother's the next victim...? Or is it... Me?

"Yeah, ... I guess you might be right..." I murmured, shakng my thoughts away. I still felt like I deserved what happened though, but regardless I would press on until I found out where he was keeping her and finish him off.

I was suddenly snapped back to reality by Elise asking me if I still had her knife. Hearing this, I couldn't help but let a small grin crease my cheeks. "Yep, right here."

After I handed it back to her, she gazed at her weapon for a while; as if she just encountered a long-lost friend.

_Oh yeah, just wait until we find Sonic... You'll be pretty damn pleased to see him, I bet..._

"Hey, um, what's this..." I began, gesturing by pointing to her and back to myself. "Link between us?"

Elise quickly lifted her head up as I spoke. "Oh, it's kind of a long story. I... Since I'm now a... spirit, I can link myself with people who I suspect are in danger. So I chose you after seeing everything that you've been through and I came back to help."

The only response she got was a confused frown from me, gesturing her to explain further.

She sighed. "Try to think of it as a psychic connection. Like someone from heaven is connected to someone else from the living. Get what I mean...?"

I slowly nodded and shrugged. "I suppose."

_Ah, this is gonna take some time to get used to... _

Just as I was about to say something, Buck and Flynn suddenly burst through the stairwell door and ran up to us.

"Hey kid! There you are!" The weasel shouted. "We've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Relax dude, I'm fine." I replied, putting on a brave face. "What's up?"

"We just looked around the second floor patient wing, eventually found your idol's room and he's nowhere to be seen!" Flynn pointed out.

I couldn't help but grin as I nudged Elise with a knowing look. "That's the Sonic we know, girl. I guessed he's not gonna hang around too long up there."

My friend giggled. Apparently, she guessed that too.

"Who's that?" Buck asked, pointing at the princess. "Is she from a magical kingdom or something?"

Originally, I did plan on telling the weasel about Elise right here, but we had other important things to think about. "I'll tell you guys later. We gotta get up to the second floor and meet up with the others."

"Alright, let's go!" Flynn shouted, instantly running over to the door that he just came from, with his friend in tow.

Without hesitation, both Elise and I followed.

_Well, looks like we gotta search all across the damn hospital for Sonic... Man, he sure is the fastest thing alive..._


	22. Chapter 22: Fortunate Sleep

**Chapter 22: Fortunate Sleep**

Even though I was glad to see Elise again, I was... still slightly frightened. If I ever came across a spirit from the heavens, I would immediately step back until I realised that they were friendly. It was exactly the same with her. At least, I was slowly calming down and becoming more at ease as we talked to each other more.

_She's still your friend Megan, you remembered her and she's back to help you..._

"There they are!" Sid shouted, pointing at us as we ran up to them.

"Who's that with Megan...?" Louis wanted to know.

"I'm guessing she's some kind of queen?" Crash put in. "Or princess?"

"Guys!" Peaches shouted, managing to shut them up. "There's only one way to find out, come on!"

As soon as we all met up in the middle of the second floor patient wing, Manny gave Elise a suspicous look whilst Ellie nodded and smiled kindly at her. There wasn't that much to describe about the patient wing, other than there were tons of brown doors everywhere and that the walls and floor were a dull grey.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" I asked, sending a grin in their direction.

"Well, Buck and Flynn already told you our major problem, so basically all we gotta do is look through every single one of these rooms for your friend." Peaches answered, grinning back at me.

_Sonic's gotta be hiding somewhere, wanting to jump out at us... Bring it, mate._

Before I knew it, the Herd then decided to focus on Elise, seeing as they had no clue who she is. Just like when I first showed up, Manny stood in front of his family to protect them.

"Manny, there's no need for that." I muttered, placing my hands (which were still bruised and battered) on my hips. "My friend, Elise, here is not a threat. She may have a knife, but she won't harm you, promise."

One by one, Ellie and the rest of the Herd agreed with me. Manny looked like he desperately wanted to protest, but eventually gave in as he knew that we were right. "Fine..."

I looked over sideways at Elise to reassure her that everything was alright and she didn't seem to mind hanging out with us. Personally, it felt like we were one large gang right now which was going to get more larger as soon as Sonic was found.

"Okay, let's get going..." The mammoth said, after Elise greeted the Herd in a friendly manner.

We decided to start at the top and work our way down. The first room had just a simple bed and a window with a soft light shining through. To be honest, it kinda reminded me of 303 back in my apartment complex. At least we had a reason to come in there as I picked up some extra bullets for my hunting rifle.

The second room happened to be Sonic's patient room. There wasn't particularly anything interesting in there, other than a small table with surgery tools and another bed. The covers looked rough, but weren't thrown all over the place like I know how I used to leave my own bed.

Upon entering the next room, we got ambushed by two nurses. They looked a lot different than the bubble head nurses we encountered back in Brookhaven Hospital, taller and more covered up. They basically towered over us, even Manny! Both Elise and I quickly took them out, me firing my pistol whilst she got in close and stabbed them repeatedly with her knife. Although the funny thing was that as we were attacking, the nurses weren't letting out their usual distorted squeals, they were actually burping.

_Heh, if I was the owner of this place, I would have named it St. Belch's Hospital._

After I finished the nurses off with a stomp to the head, we went into the fourth room. The atmosphere freaked me out a lot; we were confronted by a terrible sight at the very end. I slowly walked up to see what it was and quickly jumped back, letting out a scream. My friends and I were facing a gigantic head of someone whom I used to be on good terms with; Eileen Galvin.

"This is a nightmare, it can't be happening..." Elise murmured, clutching her knife tightly.

"I'm outta here!" Sid shouted, running out of the room.

"Yeah, see ya!" Both Crash and Eddie added, also sprinting out.

_Boys..._

I sighed as I locked eyes with the head's distorted ones. "I'm sorry, Eileen..."

"Did you know her?" Elise asked me, with concern lacing her tone.

"I ... I did." I answered, turning to face my friend. "I used to see her a lot in the streets whenever I came home from school. The last time I saw her, ... She was telling me about this dude she had a crush on, Henry Townshend. Afterwards..., I heard the news report saying that they died and ... Here I am now."

"Oh... I'm so sorry..." Elise responded after a moment of silence. "But look on the bright side, you have us! And Sonic will be here too, as soon as we find him."

_Gotta love the fastest thing alive!_

I smiled, hearing this. But then it faded as a new thought entered my head, reminding me of my social isolation. "Yeah ... I just don't want it to end badly, since I'm special needs and that people like me often get ignored and rejected 24/7."

"I'm sure Sonic will adore you..." My friend told me. "Knowing him, he'd probably walk up to you, tap you on the shoulder and give you a gentle smile. Just wait and see..."

My response was a simple grin and a thumbs up. We then exited the room, met up with the Herd and ventured into the fifth one.

"We're gonna continue looking, you guys stay here until we get back, okay?" Manny said, feeling concerned that the man might burst in and attack us at the spot.

Both Elise and I nodded, and watched as our friends continued on with their search. The room we were in was a bit similar to the first one; a window with a warm light faced us at the very end. But the only major difference was that in front of it was an x-ray board and a bed beside it. I slowly walked up to the board and took a good look at every single one of the pictures; they showed some mildly cracked bones in the spine and rib area. But what completely shocked me was that a nearby photo told me who they belonged to; Sonic the Hedgehog. My idol.

Such a horrific state. So many cuts and bruises. It was heartbreaking for me, and Elise.

I let out a heavy sigh as I took the picture of an unconscious Sonic's face lying on his living room floor. I couldn't help but stare at it for a long time, if only I managed to get in there earlier.

"Sonic..." Elise murmured, realising who it was.

"Yeah..." I answered. "I hope he's okay..."

Suddenly, a familiar noise echoed just outside the door. I didn't know it, but sparks of excitement were flooding through me as I went over to see what was happening. Elise was apparently just as excited as I was, somehow recognising the sound.

I threw open the door. Unfortunately, nothing was outside. But I was still suspicious as I walked cautiously forward to check. "Where the hell did you go...?"

As my eyes darted all over the place, I noticed that Elise had a small smile creasing her cheeks as she stared excitedly at something behind me. I was about to ask what was it that she was so happy about, when I felt a finger tap my shoulder. I slowly turned round to lock my emerald green eyes with matching ones belonging to someone whom I recognised instantly.

"Whaaaaaaaat?" I murmured, letting the corners of my lips turn up into a huge grin.

_It's really you..._


	23. Chapter 23: Sonic the Hedgehog

**Chapter 23: Sonic the Hedgehog**

Oh, my- Just ... WHAT?! Elise, the Herd went all over the hospital searching for this guy, and now he's standing front of me with a pleasantly surprised expression written on his face, like he wasn't expecting us to show up.

_What the hell...?!_

As pleased as I was to see him, I couldn't help but notice Sonic's injuries. Thankfully, he looked a lot better but still, there were a few bruises and cuts here and there. Other than that, Sonic remained the kind, cheerful and friendly hedgehog as always; like he was never attacked by the man in the coat.

"I'm kinda surprised to see you here..." He said, smiling gently at me.

Hearing this, I snapped back to reality and returned the gesture shyly. "Are you kidding me? We've been looking everywhere for you..."

"We?" Sonic pondered, frowning in thought.

My shy smile widened as I gestured for my idol to look behind me. Elise calmly walked up to us, wearing her bright and excited grin. "Hi, Sonic. It's great to see you again."

"E-Elise...? I ... Aren't you ... Aren't you—?"

"Yes, I am. But I will get round to explaining that later." She replied, folding her arms behind her back in an elegant way. "Are you alright?"

Sonic sighed. "I've been worse. If it wasn't for that kid and those animals, I'd still be lying there."

_Well, we didn't want you to die..._

"I never caught your name, did I?" He asked, turning to face me.

"No." I responded, offering my hand for him to shake. "Megan Ellis. From Room 302."

My idol grinned as he shook it, chuckling. "You already know who I am, so I don't have to tell you..."

I couldn't help but giggle, hearing that. But however, I was thinking about what was going to happen to us next; if we have to go through more Otherworlds or I could lead Sonic to the hole and get out. I sure as hell wasn't going to think about the second option, because my mother was still in danger and I needed to rescue her. I supposed I could make a quick trip back to my apartment to pick up some things, but I wasn't going to leave the nightmare without my family. Ever.

"Hey, do you two know if my friends are okay?" Sonic asked, with concern lacing his tone. "Tails? Knuckles? Amy? Shadow?"

"Unfortunately, not." Elise answered sadly. "I imagine they're here too, but safe and sound from ... All of this."

_Looks like we're going to be stuck in the Otherworlds for a REALLY long time..._

"I knew it. This is a different reality." My idol muttered, after a moment of silence. "Kiddo, you know very well that I hate hospitals, but this nightmare version is freaky! Even those nurses who happen to make funny noises as I attack them."

I agreed with him 100%. The version we were stuck in was freaky, with all of those weird sights and everything. But that didn't stop me from brightening the mood with a humourous joke, and shocking myself in the process. "Welcome to St. Belch's Hospital, where the nurses are hilariously fierce when they try to attack survivors."

_Wow, I never actually did that before! I guess, stepping out of your comfort zone can sometimes be a good thing..._

To be honest, I was expecting a confused response from both Sonic and Elise, but the one I got sent relief flooding through my chest. My deceased friend immediately burst out laughing, whilst my idol couldn't help but snicker with amusement.

"Yeah, very funny." Sonic scoffed, shaking his head.

"I try to be." I replied, smirking cheekily.

**M-S**

Already, I was beginning to develop a liking for this kid.

Come on, she sounds friendly, has a sense of humour, is able to hold her own against dangerous enemies and saved my life!

Even so, I was quite worried about her safety. When I first saw her, I didn't know who she was and why she burst into my apartment with her friends. But as I watched them take down the man, I managed to get some idea and I wanted to help, despite being on the brink of death. As soon as the knife fell near me, I knew that it was my chance and I wasted no time in grabbing it.

_It was the least I could do..._

Once I laid my eyes on Elise, I was shocked. I remembered meeting up with her in my own adventure before the attack and she looked perfectly alright. But seeing her here, deceased, sent confusion running in my head.

Why was she here?

Shouldn't she be in the afterlife?

I decided not to ask, due to hearing the kid's reply after I told her that I was surprised to see her.

"Hey, there he is!"

The three of us quickly spun round to see the prehistoric group of animals exit the door at the far end. Some of them looked relieved, whilst the others wore tired grins which told me that they spent a rather long time looking for me.

_Man, I feel bad for them. But still, I hate hospitals!_

"Hey kid, name's Diego." The male smilodon said, nodding with a small smile. "And this is my wife, Shira."

The female smilodon also nodded in acknowledgement. "Hi there."

One by one, the animals began introducing themselves and I greeted them with my usual cheery smile and thumbs-up. They seemed quite nice, just a little scared about the nightmare they were trapped in. Speaking of, I couldn't help but notice that Elise's young friend seemed frightened of the freaky worlds too.

_There has to be something I can do to help her..._

"Hey," She began, after tapping me on the shoulder. "We're going to continue on in trying to find a way out. Do you want to come?"

I didn't hesitate in answering. If Elise, her friend and the animals could help me find a way out, then definitely. Besides, I love making new friends and they all seemed pretty cool. "Yep, I'm in!"

Hearing this, the young kid grinned at me, which prompted me to return the gesture. "Alright, then."

And so, we began making our way down to the first floor. I knew that I was about to go on another journey with a group of new friends; a young girl, a princess (whom I already knew) and a large team of animals.

_Let's do this. Adventure, here I come!_


	24. Chapter 24: Ever Downward

**Chapter 24: Ever Downward**

_(A few minutes later, in Room 302 of Silver Lake Apartments...)_

**S-M**

The good thing was that we finally found Sonic, but the unfortunate thing was that I had to go back to my apartment for a while. I wasn't planning to leave my friends behind in the nightmare, even if meant getting out alive. There's no way I would do such a thing.

_Besides, I told them that I wouldn't take too long..._

Once I came to, I immediately pulled myself up to my feet and went over to pick up my hunting rifle and some extra bullets, along with a sharp knife, just for when I ran out of ammo whilst attacking enemies. Afterwards, I took in my surroundings and began to realise that the entire place was slowly beginning to transform; the walls strangely changed from a pure white to a faint dark red as did the sofa, chairs and kitchen. I didn't know what caused all of this to happen, but I was going to find out. Setting my sights on several sheets of bloodied paper and a simple key, I bent down to their level and scanned the writing; wanting to find out the meaning of the freaky worlds Sonic told us about.

But what I read, sent more questions running around, just begging to be answered:

"_You've seen that world as well..._  
><em>That horrible nightmare.<em>  
><em>But if you get sucked into it, it's not just a nightmare. Don't get lost in<em>  
><em>there. If you get pulled in, you'll be killed.<em>  
><em>But there's still hope.<em>  
><em>Maybe this "small key" will guide you.<em>  
><em>If you've seen the door with the placard set in it, look on the other side of<em>  
><em>the door.<em>  
><em>Then keep going down. To the deepest part of him.<em>  
><em>And look for the ultimate Truth.<em>

_July 20 -Joseph_"

Neatly folding the first piece up, I placed both items inside my backpack and focused on the next one. "I have seen those worlds, mate. But ... I don't see how a small key can guide us. Mind giving me a few more details?"

"_I've found two mysterious and powerful artifacts that seem to be very effective_  
><em>for evading the ghost-victims:<em>  
><em>the Holy Candle and the Saint Medallion.<em>  
><em>Not only are they effective against the ghost-victims in the Otherworld, they<em>  
><em>also seem to prevent them from invading my room. Just light the candle near<em>  
><em>where they're coming in and its holy power is activated.<em>  
><em>The Saint Medallion seems to repel unholy energy when it's worn (equipped).<em>  
><em>I'm starting to gain some hope.<em>

_July 25_"

I frowned in thought as I placed the sheet in my backpack with the other items, and began reading the final one. "Okay..."

"_No. 1...Ten heart..._  
><em>No. 2...Ten...<em>  
><em>No. 3...Ten hearts...<em>  
><em>No. 4...Ten hearts - Steve Garl...<em>  
><em>No. 5...Ten...<em>  
><em>No. 6...Ten heart...<em>  
><em>No. 7...Ten hearts - Billy Locane<em>  
><em>No. 8...Ten hearts - Miriam Locane<em>  
><em>No. 9...Ten hearts...<em>  
><em>No. 10...Ten...<em>  
><em>No. 11...Assumption - Walter Sullivan<em>  
><em>No. 12...Void...<em>  
><em>No. 13...Darkness...<em>  
><em>No. 14...Gloom...<em>  
><em>No. 15...Despair - Joseph Schreiber<em>  
><em>No. 16...Temptation - Cynthia Velasquez<em>  
><em>No. 17...Source - Jasper Gein<em>  
><em>No. 18...Watchfulness - Andrew DeSalvo<em>  
><em>No. 19...Chaos - Richard Braintree<em>  
><em>No. 20...Mother - Eileen Galvin<em>  
><em>No. 21...Wisdom - Henry Townshend<em>

_August 7_"

This time, I didn't say a word. My jaw dropped to the ground again. Both Eileen and Henry were part of some strange death club?! And why did the name 'Walter Sullivan' send chills crawling down my spine?

I sighed heavily as I repeated the same process as before. "I can't believe this..."

Pulling myself up to my feet, I walked over to the small hole and bent down, intent on seeing if anything was happening in Sonic's room. I wasn't in for the sight that was about to greet me, that's for sure.

Sitting on Sonic's bed, was a regular sized plush of Silent Hill's Amusement Park mascot, Robbie the Rabbit. Truth be told, I had no idea that it was there, maybe my idol has been to the town and bought it, I don't know. Just as I was about to turn away, the most frightening thing ever happened.

_What?!_

As if it had come to life, the toy slowly began to lift it's head up almost like how a snail moves on the ground, and turned to stare in my direction. It then drew its' arm up, pointing a bloodied pink finger directly at me, smiling as it had achieved something positive. It only took _one _second for the realisation to hit me.

I wanted to scream, yell, shout and even cry. But nothing came. My body began shaking in fright as I stared at it in complete silence, letting the news sink in.

_The next victim ... Was ... Me._

"No..." I eventually managed to whisper, not realising that I was now breathing heavily with panic taking me over.

Elise, Maria and Cybil's murderer was coming for me now. I suspected that he still was going for Sonic, considering what happened back in Room 303, but ...

What if ... My mother's next after me...? Or is she ... Already—?

Shaking my thoughts away, I immediately pulled myself up, grabbed my backpack and weapons, threw open my bedroom door and crawled into the hole.

* * *

><p><em>(Back in the Otherworld version of St. Jerome's Hospital...)<em>

**M-E**

"So, how do you and kiddo know each other?" Sonic asked, grinning at me and the Herd.

"Well, it's kind of a long story." I began, returning the gesture. "I basically met Megan, took a walk with her and strangely ended up in a burning city with lots of enemies around. My friend gave me my knife and we both explored for a while, telling each other about our lives. But unfortunately, I decided to look for more supplies by myself and ... The man found me."

My smile faded as I finished my sentence. I still felt guilty about leaving my young friend behind and losing my life, so much that I wanted to do everything I possibly could to get a chance to redeem myself.

Even though, I was certain that Megan would forgive me anyway if I apologised.

_I'm hoping she will, because she's such a kind girl... And she's willing to assist anyone in a threatening situation..._

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, Elise." Sonic murmured after a moment of silence. "But hey, look on the bright side, you're still here and you can hang out with her!"

Hearing this, I couldn't help but giggle. "I suppose you're right about that."

"Hey kids, Megan's back!" Manny suddenly shouted, interrupting our conversation. "Come on!"

Sonic looked at me in shock, which I responded by shrugging. We weren't children, we were adults now. My blue friend is 24 and I'm two years older than him. But still...

_There were two children in our group; one whom I wanted to look after..._

A few seconds later, Shira and Diego came out of the room with a panicked, scared and frightened Megan. Both Sonic and I instantly ran up to them, letting our concern take us over.

"Are you okay...?" The female smilodon asked.

My young friend was trying so hard to calm her breathing. "No ... I just found out who the next two victims are..."

_Oh no..._

I grabbed Megan's shoulders and looked her right in the eyes, desperately wanting to find out what caused her to feel down. Of course, she was quite shy when we first met, but she was so cheery and happy whilst we began developing our bond. Something was wrong, and I was going to fix it. "Who are they...?"

The answer I got, shocked us all completely. "Me ... And ... My mum..."

_NO! _

I turned to look at Sonic. He didn't particularly understand what was occurring, but he knew what we had to do. A child and her mother were in grave danger and it was up to us to prevent the worst; we had to protect Megan until she was reunited with her.

"Okay ... Don't worry ... Just stick together with us and we'll make sure the man won't get you. If it's one on one, you know what to do, right?" I asked.

"Yes," The young girl responded, putting on a brave face. "Fight him off until I'm safe. I know what to do..."

_That's fine, then._

I gave her shoulders an affectionate squeeze and Sonic punched Megan gently on the shoulder, brightening the mood and making her giggle.

"Hey Megan, try not to worry so much about the man. Like your friend said, you'll be safer if you stick with us." Manny said, with concern lacing his tone. "Shall we get going?"

"Alright..."

And just like that, we all got into our group and began making our way out of the hospital. The exit unfortunately happened to be locked but with Megan's small key, we managed to escape. We found ourselves descending a spiral staircase in a grey foggy atmosphere with a door at the very end.

I didn't know where we were going next, but I hoped that we would enter a place which was safe and would keep my friends from harm.

_Okay, let's see what's down here..._


	25. Chapter 25: Ashfield Subway Station

**Chapter 25: Ashfield Subway Station**

After going through the door, we were confronted by industrial, grey and lifeless surroundings. Due to having lived in Soleanna for the majority of my life, I was certainly startled as I had never seen a place look this terrible.

_Well, Eggman's base in White Acropolis was unsettling, but still..._

I kept a close eye on Megan as we made our way across the steel floors to another door which waited for us. At first, my friends pondered over what we should do, whether to go through the door and face the horrors ahead of us, or just turn around and head back. Meanwhile, I located a set of saint medallions sitting on a nearby shelf, white lights gleaming as if to show their presence.

"Hey," I murmured, interrupting the conversation. "I just saw something that can help us, come on."

They walked over to me, indicating that they were interested in what I had to offer. Manny, Sid, Diego and the possums frowned in thought as Megan, Sonic and Peaches all nodded for me to explain.

"What is it, Elise?" The teenage mammoth asked.

I gave them an appreciative smile. "Well, I found these saint medallions here. From what I heard, these can help avoid falling under a victim ghost's pain aura and heal a set of hauntings in a particular location. There's not very many right now, but I suggest we all wear one, just in case."

After those words left my mouth, I handed Megan and Sonic one each, which they both put around their necks. I was about to offer the Herd as well but shockingly, they all declined the saint medallions.

"No thanks," Manny said, nodding in acknowledgement. "We'll be fine."

"We can handle ourselves alright against those things!" Granny put in, enthusiastically.

"Thank you." Ellie added, smiling gratefully. "But, I think we'll be okay."

_Alright, then..._

Suddenly, a click echoed, making us turn round to face the door. Megan stood there, holding the same key she used to unlock the hopsital's exit earlier. Apparently she was able to use it for that one too.

"Nice one, kiddo." Sonic said, giving her a thumbs up.

My young friend grinned as she returned the gesture. "Thanks."

She then turned the knob and one by one, we entered the next room. Darkness swept over the hallway, leading to the main area of an incredibly large subway station. Other than a low hum coming from below, there was just a silence which set the atmosphere and sent icy chills crawling down our spines.

_At least, Megan has a source of light to guide us through here..._

"I don't like this," The sloth shuddered, as we continued walking. "Why can't we be back home?!"

"Relax, Sid." Diego said, reassuring him. "We'll be out of here, soon."

Meanwhile, Sonic was inspecting a far away area where the escalator stood with Megan, Peaches and Louis in tow. I watched from a distance, keeping a firm grip on my knife, in case if the man happened to be in the area too.

_I have to protect my friends... Especially that young and innocent girl..._

As I scanned the room, I located a different weapon waiting for me on the grey-white floor, a loaded revolver. A small smile creased my cheeks as I went over to pick it up. Besides the knife Megan gave me, this was the only other weapon I used. When I met up with Sonic back in Soleanna, we ventured across the city only to find ourselves in a particular town which brought back horrible memories. To tell the truth, I couldn't remember where my last one went. But at least, I now have a new firearm.

"Ten or eleven bullets will do," I murmured. "I suppose there will be more to find."

**E-S**

I felt really uneasy being in dark locations, such as this.

To be honest, I didn't even know why I ended up here. Maybe the rumours about the South Ashfield Heights apartments were actually true, not nonsense like I first thought of it.

_Mate, you really need to get used to this type of thing..._

I couldn't help but let my thoughts drift to my friends; Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Shadow. Even though I knew they were okay, I pondered over what they were doing right now. Were they still at the hospital? Or were they suddenly knocked out and trapped here with us? Regardless, I knew that my friends could handle themselves in a threatening situation.

"Hey Louis! Megan!" Peaches shouted, snapping me back to reality. "Come and look at this!"

Letting my instincts take over, I found myself walking to where the kid, mammoth and molehog were. "What is it?"

"We just found a new weapon." She replied, brightly. "Nothing too serious."

_That's good then. Elise and kiddo need all of the weapons they can get..._

"It looks like some kind of sword." Louis murmured, as Elise's young friend picked it up. "I don't know exactly what the name means, but still..."

A small smile creased my cheeks as I watched them examine it patiently. It was almost like ... an awesome moment where kids can be kids, not in a dark and freaky place such as these worlds we were trapped in.

"Hey guys!" Crash called out. "We should probably check out the turnstiles, we might find something there too!"

_Ah, I wouldn't really head there... But, we'll do it anyways..._

The kid gave me a look as if to say she thought it was a bad idea too. We both kinda suspected that something was going to jump out and scare us when we eventually went there, one of those freaky monsters or a victim ghost. After a moment of silence, I gave my signature thumbs up and a wink to reassure her that it was gonna be fine.

"Okay," She murmured, smiling back at me.

We then all went down to the central area to join up with Elise, Peaches and the rest of the gang. I couldn't help but chuckle when I noticed that she had a new weapon of her own; the same one she used during her adventure with me, back when I first moved in.

"I see you found your gun." I said. "Nice one."

Hearing this, Elise quickly took a look at her revolver before answering. "Well, at least I don't have to get in close to attack enemies now."

Soon afterwards, Manny came up and asked us if we were ready to get going. We all responded with the same answer, fully prepared for anything that was waiting for us ahead.

"Well then, let's move." The mammoth replied, setting off towards the turnstiles with us in tow.

_Okay then, hopefully this is gonna turn out good..._


	26. Chapter 26: Cynthia Velasquez

**Chapter 26: Cynthia Velasquez**

_(At the turnstiles...)_

**S-M**

I'm not going to lie, as soon as we arrived at our planned destination, I couldn't help but step closer to Sonic. I don't know why I did, but he actually didn't seem to mind; just locked his eyes with mine and gave a small smile of reassurance.

_Stop being paranoid, Megan. If you have time to worry, then run..._

"Hang on," Granny said, stopping us in our tracks. "That looks like hair to me."

We all followed the elderly sloth's stick which pointed down to a trail of recently cut hair; donning a pitch black colour. This triggered a flashback to something that I saw way way earlier, before this adventure started. I let out a yelp of shock as I almost lost my balance, stumbling backwards until someone caught me by the shoulders with a firm and gentle grip.

"Whoa, whoa!" Sonic murmured, pulling me back up to normal. "You okay there?"

"I-I-I'm not sure," I stammered, blinking and shaking my head a couple of times. "But thanks for um, helping me back up."

The only response was that same smile from before and that was enough to calm me down. Elise saw what happened and gave me a look which clearly said: "I told you he'd like you."

As we followed the trail of hair, the turnstiles for the 'Lynch Street Line' came into view and the sight that we were greeted with, stopped us in our tracks. A woman lay face-down on the grey floor, lifeless, almost as she had just been in a brutal fight and lost.

But, that wasn't it.

"Uh," Peaches shuddered, glancing at me and Louis in suspicion. "Who is that?"

"I don't know who she is, sweetheart." Ellie replied, feeling just as concerned as the rest of us were. "All we can do is find out."

_I hate to get on your bad side, but that's not a good idea..._

Despite knowing that we were all in great danger, I cautiously walked ahead of everyone else as I went to investigate. Shockingly, the woman had apparently heard my footsteps and lifted herself up, acknowledging our presence.

_Oh no..._

She began crawling THROUGH the turnstiles as if they weren't even there, glowering at us dangerously. I immediately grabbed my pistol and aimed it at her, panting quickly as I knew exactly what she was planning to do.

No answer. The woman just inched herself closer and closer to us, moaning and crying out with torment. Elise seemed to recognise these noises instantly and grabbed her revolver. "Megan, get back! That's a ghost!"

_Victim Ghosts ... 21 murders ... Wait, was this Cynthia Velasquez?!_

I had no idea that my saint medallion was humming like crazy, signalling that it was about to break. As soon as it cracked, that was all it took for a powerful headache to overwhelm me. I desperately fought the pain off as Elise and I both began firing our guns at the floating Cynthia. Apparently the ghost was able to control her hair, as it formed a tight circle around my small frame, trapping me inside. I did everything that I could think of in order to break free, whacking her with my rifle and fighting her physically.

Sonic, Elise and the Herd were shouting and yelling on how they were going to help me and to be honest, I really wanted to scream "Guys, you got a kid in danger here!" to shut them up. Unfortunately, Cynthia saw this as the perfect opportunity to dive right in.

I screamed hysterically in agony as she repeatedly raked her fingers roughly across my shirt, tearing the fabric apart and cutting deep into my chest, creating an intensely painful wound. My vision instantly blurred until it began to fade into darkness, making me realise that I could die right here.

"_Megan_!"

"_Kiddo_!"

Thank god Sonic, Elise, Manny and Diego jumped in, because I certainly would have lost my life if they didn't. The blue hedgehog grunted as he performed a series of homing attacks on the ghost whilst the mammoth whacked her with his trunk, delivering severe blows. I grimaced as I clutched my chest wound with my left hand, firing my gun several more times with my right one.

"You okay, Megan?!" Peaches cried.

"Yeah, I'm okay!" I gasped, as I continued firing. "Just stay back!"

_Actually, I wasn't._

My panting then turned to heavy breathing as the fight went on. I sprinted up to Cynthia and smacked her hard in the face with my pistol, sending her to the ground. Just as I was about to pin the sword into her, she did something completely unexpected; sliding away and dodging my incoming attack.

"ARGH!" I screamed, running after her with Sonic and Diego in tow.

"GET BACK HERE!" My idol yelled, feeling just as frustrated as I was.

Soon Cynthia rose from the ground, growling to indicate that she wasn't happy with us at all. Elise and the others quickly joined us as the smilodon swiped his claws at the ghost repeatedly with Sonic performing another three homing attacks.

_Son of a b*tch, JUST GO DOWN!_

Five bullets whizzed past me, hitting the ghost in the torso. She stumbled backwards, struggling not to fall to the floor again. I turned my head round to see Elise firing her revolver at Cynthia and gave her a weak nod of thanks.

"No time for compliments now!" Eddie shouted, apparently noticing what I just did. "Save them for later!"

"That's what I'm planning to do!" I yelled, trying not to succumb to my severe chest injury.

_Megan, don't fall down, don't fall down, don't fall down!_

We were soon snapped back to reality by Sonic screaming in pain as Cynthia was now injuring him, nearly putting him in the same state as me.

"OH NO, YOU DON'T!" I roared, sprinting in to prevent the worse from happening. I pistol-whipped the ghost hard, forcing her to release her grip and sending her to the ground in an instant. This time she just stayed there, as if she knew that we were too powerful for her. I grabbed the sword and finally managed to pin it in.

After all of that, there was just silence.

My vision suddenly got worse by causing my surroundings to fade into black.

I began staggering back towards the turnstiles as I wanted to continue on with looking around. My friends thought that was a bad idea as they were trying desperately to stop me in my tracks.

"Megan, slow down!" Ellie said worriedly. "We need to get you somewhere safe!"

"Ellie's right!" Manny added. "Both you and your friend need patching up!"

Sonic didn't look as bad as me, but the mammoth was right. He needed some help too with his mildly painful wound, as he stumbled to and fro in an effort to keep his balance. "Gotta ... Stay up ..."

Unfortunately before I could reply, my legs gave way and I collapsed to the floor with a heavy thud, falling unconscious.

_No, I can't give up here! ... At least my friends are alright... _


	27. Chapter 27: Exit Wounds

**Chapter 27: Exit Wounds**

_(Meanwhile, in the real version of St. Jerome's Hospital...)_

**M-T**

As soon as the ambulance came into the car park, we knew that something was wrong. But what shocked us the most was when the doctors came out with a beaten, cut and heavily injured Sonic.

_We had no idea that he was attacked! If only I went back up to check on him..._

My big brother didn't even deserve it. Why would someone do such a thing?! We all started panicking and asking what happened to him as they placed Sonic in the ambulance. The answer we got was enough:

"_The girl from 302 saved his life and called us up. For a kid her age, that was a pretty brave thing to do._"

Upon hearing that, Amy collasped to the ground, letting relief take her over whilst I bent down to help her. Even though we all knew he could handle himself in a fight, we were relieved that Sonic was still alive.

"_We're coming too._" Knuckles had said. "_Sonic's our buddy and we want to be there when he eventually wakes up._"_  
><em>

And so we entered the ambulance and it drove off. Now here we were, standing in the hospital room of the one hedgehog who changed our lives for the better. Shadow had his arms folded as he leant against a wall whilst Knuckles paced around, trying not let his slowly boiling anger at Sonic's attacker lash out. Both Amy and I sat in two separate chairs, pondering over who the saviour was.

"As soon as we find out who the girl is and thank her, we all should invite her to hang out. What do you think, Tails?" The pink hedgehog suggested, smiling sadly.

"That's a great idea, Amy." I replied, returning the gesture. "She'd probably be up for it."

_Who knows? She could be one of his fans or a friend..._

Just then, a thought suddenly flashed in my mind; I remembered hearing rumours involving the South Ashfield Heights apartments and a man named 'Walter Sullivan'. After hearing the news about the deaths of three victims including Elise, I couldn't help but ask myself ... Is the murderer ... Walter?

At first, I dismissed that thought as nonsense due to him being dead, but something continued to linger inside me. "This is going to sound absolutely crazy, but I think I got an idea on who attacked Sonic."

Hearing this, my three friends immediately looked in my direction with interest. "That's Great," Knuckles said, grinning at me. "Tell us!"

"Okay, well, you remember hearing those rumours about Walter Sullivan and how we all dismissed them?" I began, carefully choosing my words. The answer I got were three nods. "We can't do that anymore."

_Nice going, Tails. They're gonna think you're going crazy._

"Hang on a minute," Amy murmured. "What do you mean?"

I sighed, blinking a couple of times. "I mean that potentially ... Walter's come back as a ghost and murdered Elise and the other two victims. He attacked Sonic, but the girl from Room 302 saved his life. I don't believe that the dead can haunt us, but ... That's what I think."

To be honest, I was expecting my friends to tell me that what I just said was nonsense and someone else could be the culprit. But instead, the response I got both relieved and surprised me.

"I'm with you Tails," Knuckles said. "Even though I'm not sure about the dead living among us, there could be a slight chance that you're right. We should probably find out."

One by one, the other two agreed and I rose from my seat, looking sadly at my big brother who was lying in the hospital bed, bruised and battered. "Okay. I'm gonna quickly head outside for some fresh air, you wanna come?"

"Sure," Both Knuckles and Shadow responded, walking towards the door.

"Actually I'm gonna stay here for a while." Amy replied. "You guys go ahead."

**T-A**

"Alright, we'll be back in a minute." Tails said, giving me a small smile. "See you later."

"Bye guys," I replied, returning the gesture as I watched the boys leave.

As soon as the door closed, I pulled myself up to my feet and walked over to Sonic's bed, never taking my eyes of him. It broke my heart into pieces, seeing him like this. He didn't deserve it, at all. Elise and the other two didn't either.

_Why is this happening...?_

"Sonic," I murmured, shaking my thoughts and gripping his gloved hand tightly. "I know that you just see me as a friend, but ..." I paused for a moment, squeezing my eyes shut and reopening them. "I'll always love you."

Taking a deep breath, I leaned down and gently pressed my lips to his, just for a moment and letting the gesture calm me. I then slowly pulled away, desperately trying to fight back any incoming tears. "So, keep fighting in the way you do best. And you'll be fine..."

_I believe that you can do it... _

Afterwards, I stayed there for a little longer; gazing down at the hedgehog I loved so much. I thought back to when we first met, I was looking for him since my destiny cards told me that I would meet someone who would sweep me of my feet. And he did, not physically though. Ever since then, I always remained beside Sonic, helping him, Tails, Cream and the others whenever they needed it. But deep down, I hoped that maybe one day ... Sonic would start to return my affections...

_And I think he probably has..._

"Excuse me? Miss Amy?"

Snapping back to reality, I whirled round to face the nurse who guided me and my friends to Sonic's room. "Yes?" I sighed, feeling slightly irritated.

"I apologise for disturbing you," She began. "But visiting hours are over. You can come back later, though."

_Brilliant!_

"Okay," I responded, nodding in acknowledgement. "Thanks a lot."

Hearing this, the nurse gave me a small smile and went back down to the main floor whilst I quickly checked the time; 19:45 pm. It was getting pretty late and I assumed that the party we were all missing was already in full swing.

_Oh well..._

Taking one last look at the love of my life, I turned round and exited the hospital room.

* * *

><p><em>(Back in the Otherworld version of Ashfield Subway Station...)<em>

**A-M**

To be honest, I actually thought I was dead due to how long I was unconscious for. I hoped that my friends were in good shape, even though I had a slight feeling that we were going to encounter the next couple of ghosts as we progressed, since Cynthia was the one who tried to murder us moments ago.

_This is not going to end well, at all..._

I slowly let my eyes flutter open and I was immediately greeted with the smiling face of the blue hedgehog who I looked up to since I was just a little kid. "Sup, mate?"

Sonic snickered with an amused smirk. "I was beginning to think you'd never wake up."

Pulling myself up into a sitting position, I took in my surroundings and discovered that we were in the nearest and safest place my friends could find; the toilets. "Where's Elise and the others?"

"Oh, they're just outside waiting for us." My idol answered, locking his emerald eyes with my matching ones. "You okay?"

I looked down at my chest injury to see that it was now completely bandaged, although the white fabric was stained with a dark red from underneath my torn shirt. I grimaced at the sight of the bloodstains but steeled myself together. "I've been worse. You?"

_Elise must have bandaged my wound up - Cheers, girl!_

My idol sighed, checking his own injury. "Eh, it's not too bad. I suppose I won't have to wait too long for it to heal, but I'll live. No worries!"

"That's good." I replied, nodding to prove my point. "As long as we're all still breathing, then nothing can take us down."

Sonic grinned once those words left my mouth. "You're definitely right there, kiddo."

_Looks like we're getting along great! Although ... I hope I won't mess up..._

There was a brief moment of silence before a thought suddenly came into Sonic's mind. "Hey," He began, never taking his eyes of mine. "Why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself whilst we're here?"

At first, I was quite surprised. I mean ... We've only met a couple of hours ago and didn't get that much time to talk to each other. I was planning to wait for a while until this sort of thing occurred and I never went through it with someone other than Elise and the Herd. Maybe I should tell Sonic about my life?

_And my mother's disappearance..._

"Well, there's not much to say." I murmured. "I lived in Room 302 of Silver Lake Apartments my entire life and ... You already know that I'm a fan of yours and I'm a fan of Manny and the Herd so, that's the basic part."

My idol seemed very interested and urged me to continue. I understood that Sonic loved making new friends and that was pleasant, but then came the part where I had to bring in my troubled life. "But, my past wasn't really that great."

Hearing this, Sonic's smile faded with concern. "Oh, well if you don't want to talk about it then that's fine. But, we can help you out if you'd like."

"O-Okay," I stammered, giving him a small appreciative smile. "T-The only thing I'm going to say about it is that ... I ... have this condition which makes me different than everyone else and ... It's made things really tough."

As soon as I said that, I waited anxiously for a negative response. Just like with Elise all the way back in Crisis City, I was expecting Sonic to point at and tease me.

_But, he didn't do anything of that..._

"Man ..." My idol murmured, sympathetically. "I'm so sorry..."

I just remained in silence, letting relief overwhelm me. I was suddenly snapped back to reality by the blue hedgehog's hand settling on my shoulder, prompting me to jump out of my skin. "H-Hey...!"

"Kiddo, I feel bad about what's happened to you. But you have us now and we're not gonna leave ya! You can always be free when I'm around!" Sonic said, brightening the mood like he always does.

I giggled as he helped me up to my feet. He was right, whenever someone was with him, they would have nothing to worry about and be free at the same time.

Soon, we decided that we would have to head back out and join up with the others as they were waiting. As we exited the bathrooms, I made up my mind to wait a little later before I would tell Sonic about the reason why I was in the Otherworlds.

_And, I knew that he would be in to help..._


	28. Chapter 28: Lynch Street Line

**Chapter 28: Lynch Street Line**

After meeting up with Elise, Manny and the others, we went through the turnstiles and made our way down the staircase. Thankfully, Cynthia was still pinned down so at least we wouldn't have a problem with her anymore.

_But ... I couldn't shake the feeling that she isn't the only one..._

Unfortunately, we were confronted by a group of sniffer dogs and double-heads as we came in. Considering the subway station had both wide and narrow spaces, I initially thought of taking them out right there. But I knew it was a bad idea, because they would most likely maul me to death as soon as I was on the ground.

I shook those thoughts away once we descended the next staircase onto the Lynch Street Line platform. I quickly turned on my flashlight, whilst repeatedly telling myself to take it easy as I joined Peaches and Louis in exploring. The adults went to look further down the platform, some even going into the train.

"What if there are monsters inside that train...?" Louis whispered in fright. "I don't want to see you guys killed by a closer or even worse, the man in the coat..."

Hearing this, Peaches gingerly stroked his fur with her trunk. "I don't want to see you die either..."

I was immediately bombarded by flashbacks of Elise, Maria and Cybil's deaths, along with Sonic's attack. I clenched my eyes shut, trying so hard not to show signs of my painful guilt. I sure as hell wasn't going to let my friends suffer the same fate, especially after everything that's happened so far.

"_I'll be right back..._"

"_Let's just get out of here..._"

"_Don't worry though, I'll say Hi to Elise for you..._"

"_I-I-If you got time to worry, t-t-then run... T-T-This place... It's dangerous... You need to... Hurry... G-Get out of here..._"

I'll admit, it was slowly getting more and more difficult to hold my emotions in. One part of me was desperately screaming at me to let it all out, but I listened to the other part which told me to keep them in and stay strong throughout.

"Get it together." I scolded myself quietly, putting on a facade of calmness which told everyone that I was a tough and jaded kid. "Get it together."

_Now's not the time..._

As I scanned the area, I found myself wandering inside the nearest train car which welcomed me with its' bright lights. Even though they were further down, Sonic, Elise, Manny and the others were in the same train as I was.

"Hey Megan," Peaches said, walking up to me as we continued searching. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I answered, giving her a quick thumbs up. "It's all good."

There was a small moment of silence before my teenage mammoth friend spoke up. "Y'know? That Sonic guy you and Elise like, he seems really nice."

_Damn right he is!_

"Did you tell him about your mother?" She asked, locking her eyes with mine. "If you haven't yet, then you really should."

"I am planning to, Peaches." I responded. "I'm just going to wait until the time is right, that's all."

Louis had apparently heard our conversation and decided to step in too. "That's perfectly fine. Until you find her, we'll look after you... Don't worry..."

"Thanks guys." I said, turning my lips upwards in a small smile. "I appreciate it..."

_I'm glad that you all are here..._

**M-S**

Since I came out of the bathrooms with kiddo, I couldn't help but feel that there was something missing. I had no idea to why she was in these freaky worlds with the Herd, wether it was she wanted to find me or they just ended up trapped here, I don't know.

_There's __probably something bothering her... Poor girl...__  
><em>

"Hey Elise!" I called out. "Mind if I could talk to you for a sec?"

As soon as those words left my mouth, the sound of heels clicking at a fast pace echoed and my friend jogged up to me with a acknowledging smile. "Sure, Sonic. What's troubling you?"

I returned the gesture and began to explain my concern for the young girl. "It's not very serious, but ... I'm getting quite worried about your friend." I then gave a small sigh. "I hope she's okay..."

Hearing this, Elise's smile faded as she placed her hand on my shoulder. "I'm sure Megan's fine. But she can be really shy and quiet so ..., if you'd like to, you could do what you do best; show her how wonderful your life is and that everyone can follow you."

_Y'know ... That actually sounds good._

I nodded, indicating that I thought her idea was alright. "Besides," She continued. "You've changed so many lives, including mine. If you can do that, then you'll have no worries doing the same with Megan."

After she said this, I grinned at her and gave my signature thumbs up. "I suppose you're right. I mean ... We've probably changed her life already since we're her idols. Although, thanks Elise."

The response I received from my friend was a much wider smile. "I'm always happy to help if you are ever in need of assistance."

Just as I was about to reply, a trio of shouts and yells made us jump out of my fur/skin, coming from outside the train and up a nearby staircase.

"What's going on up there?!" Manny shouted, having heard the commotion. "You guys okay?!"

"We're fine, Dad!" Peaches shouted back. "We just found some extra supplies and a new weapon, that's all!"

_At least the younger ones weren't arguing..._

**S-M**

I am not going to lie, as soon as I saw the new weapon, I immediately threw my fists up in the air with delight. It happened to be an already loaded shotgun and I absolutely love seeing it in action; wether it was movies, video games or TV shows.

_And now I have one of my own..._

"YEEEESS!" I cheered, just after throwing my fists up. "We get the almighty boom-stick!"

Hearing this, both Peaches and Louis couldn't help but burst out laughing. Apparently they thought what I just said was hilarious, and that was perfectly fine. I went down to pick up the firearm and damn, it was heavy! Probably a lot heavier that my hunting rifle, but oh well...

"Oh man," I sighed, smirking evilly. "I am so, killing the first monster we run into with this thing!"

_It's not like I'm a serial killer, though. I just love the shotgun! _

"C'mon Megan," My teenage mammoth friend chuckled, gesturing for me and Louis to follow her. "Let's head back down."

I nodded and joined my two friends on the way back to the platform. Sonic was the first one to appear as Peaches and Louis finished descending. I locked eyes with him, took my right leg back and held my new firearm in a fighting stance with a mischievous smirk creasing my cheeks. "Like what you see, mate?"

The only answer I got out of Sonic was him giving me a thumbs up and snickering. "You sure do make me laugh."

_Well, I try to._

Eventually, I met up with my friends and we all continued on. I walked with my idol and Elise with Diego and Shira close behind. But as we went through the door at the end of the platform, I thought back to my mother's disappearance.

Where was she...?

Is she still alive...?

And what was Walter doing to her...?

_I need to find my mother and get out of here with my friends ... Fast!_


End file.
